The Trouble With Teens
by JessCM09
Summary: When Emily returns to work Alex becomes plagued with nightmares, which make her doubt her mothers. What will happen when the teen begins acting out in an attempt to hide her fear? Story #9 in my Emily/Alex series.
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO AGAIN!**

**So I decided that I wanted to explore a different side to Alex in this story. I know I've written about her having nightmares and what not before, but I promise this will be different, as I kind of want to see the teen get herself into a bit of trouble, so I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**This chapter is just a short bit of fluff before we get into the big stuff though, which I hope you'll like as well! **

**Thanks so much for sticking with me! -J**

**Chapter 1**

Sundays were often Emily's favourite day of the week. If the team wasn't away on a case, Emily, JJ and Alex liked to spend their Sundays lounging at home. Alex would finish her homework early; they would have a big breakfast, spend most of their day in comfy clothes and often cuddle up on the couch together to watch a movie. It was rare that anyone even left the house on Sundays and Emily absolutely loved it. In her opinion there was no better way to spend the end of the weekend, than relaxing at home with the people she loved most, and the brunette couldn't wait until the baby was born and there was one more person involved in her lazy Sundays.

The ladies had spent their morning cooking up a big breakfast while Alex worked on the last of her homework, having woke up rather early compared to her usual noon wake up. After enjoying their meal together, the 3 had cleaned up before deciding to play a few rounds of Mario Kart, which was still Alex's favourite.

It was a great morning, but as the day wore on Emily eventually noticed JJ looking rather tired, something, which had been happening quite often the further they got into her pregnancy. Knowing the blonde needed the rest Emily suggested she take a nap, thinking it was a pretty good idea when Alex decided to join JJ since the teen looked uncharacteristically exhausted.

With the two females upstairs in bed, Emily was left with Sergio; both curling up on the couch where Emily opened up the book she was currently reading. Forty-five minutes later though she was interrupted from her story when JJ's cell phone, which was sitting on the coffee table began to ring with Garcia's name lighting up the screen.

"Hey Pen," Emily greeted, answering the phone since she knew JJ wouldn't mind.

"Hey Princess," Garcia's chipper voice replied. "I thought I called our Blonde Bombshell."

"You did, she left her phone on the table, she's actually upstairs taking a nap with Lex," Emily explained. "The little guy is draining all her energy already and he's not even here yet. She could barely keep her eyes open and Lex was no better. They're both probably sleeping like rocks."

"That's pretty likely," Garcia laughed. "Poor sleepy girls."

"So what are you up to Pen?" Emily asked, wondering if there was a reason the analyst was calling. "Did you need something from Jen?"

"No not really I was just taking a break from my latest computer game and thought I'd check in and see how my favourite couple was doing," Garcia replied, her voice bubbly as always. "You know while I've got you on the phone though I had a thought the other day that I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"And what would that be?" Emily asked tentatively, not sure if she should be nervous.

"Well I realized that we haven't thrown JJ a baby shower yet," Garcia replied, sounding excited. "And I know planning a party with the team's schedule is nearly impossible but I thought it might be nice to try. I mean we could invite JJ's mom and sister-in-law, your mom, Haley and then all of Alex's friends of course. Just a small get together."

"I'm not entirely sure how Jen would feel about that to be honest," Emily replied. "I mean she's not really into being the centre of attention lately."

"I know, which is why we'll keep it small, and maybe a surprise?" Garcia suggested.

"So she doesn't have a chance to say no?"

"Exactly!" Garcia replied enthusiastically. "Come on Emsters, we need a day to celebrate the little munchkin, and I'm sure Jayje would be thrilled to see her mom and Sara. It'll be great!"

"Alright," Emily laughed. "Go nuts and let me know what you need me to do, but you know it's going to be hard to find a weekend where we're actually in town. And time off is never a guarantee."

"I know, but we'll make it happen," Garcia replied confidently. "I will begin brainstorming and keep you posted. Perhaps I will even recruit our little Princess to help as well."

"Sounds good I'll be sure to warn her," Emily said, still laughing. "I'll see you tomorrow Pen."

"See you then Princess," came the blonde's reply. "Garcie out."

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Alex was exhausted. She had been doing her best to look awake and be involved while she spent the morning with her mom and JJ, but when Emily suggested JJ take a nap, the teen jumped at the chance to join the blonde; desperately needing to rest her tired eyes. Lying down in the master bedroom's king size bed, Alex and JJ had talked for a few minutes before they both drifted off, lying facing each other; JJ with one hand resting on her stomach, while Alex curled up as close as she could.

An hour and a half later though Alex's eyes shot open, breathing deeply as she tried to shake the dream, which had woken her with a start; something, which had been happening quite a bit in the last week. Reminding herself it was just a dream, the teen attempted to calm her breathing; relieved that she hadn't woken JJ, who seemed to still be out cold. Once she had calmed herself down, the brunette couldn't help but smile as JJ rubbed her hand over her stomach even in her sleep.

To say Alex was excited about the baby would be an understatement, the teen was anxious to have a sibling since she had spent most of her childhood wishing for one. She couldn't wait to hold her little brother and be there for him as he grew up; smiling as she thought about all the things she would get to teach him as he grew up.

"What are you smiling about girly?" JJ's whispered, startling Alex, who hadn't noticed that the blonde had woken up.

"Just thinking about the baby," Alex replied with a smile, reaching out and taking JJ's hand. "I've always wanting a little brother or sister. I had given up on that dream so long ago, it's kind of hard to believe that it's finally coming true."

"You're going to be such a great sister," JJ smiled, squeezing Alex's hand. "I'm so glad that this little guy is going to have a big sister to be there for him, especially when your Mom and I aren't around. I'll feel better leaving for work knowing that you're here with him."

"Have you guys figured out what you're going to do about that yet?" Alex asked, knowing the couple were still trying to work out a plan for when JJ returned to work; something, which Alex was rather curious about.

"No not yet," JJ sighed. "We've been considering a couple options, but we haven't decided yet. Luckily we still have some time though. I mean I will have some time off once the baby's born anyways, so we'll just have to make a decision before my maternity leave is over."

"It'll be nice to have you home," Alex smiled. "I know you and Mom hate not working, but I like having you guys here. It was nice when Mom was off after she got shot. I mean I obviously would have rather she not have gotten hurt, but it was nice having someone to come home to everyday."

"I'm looking forward to it too honey," JJ replied, tucking the teen's hair behind her ear. "It'll be nice to get to spend the extra time together."

Smiling, Alex squeezed JJ's hand again, knowing it would be great to get to spend so much time with JJ and would likely bring them even closer together than they already were.

"Do you think you and Mom will have more kids?" The teen eventually blurted out the question; something, which she had wondered quite a bit about.

"Oh uh wow," JJ stumbled, not expecting the question. "Um well, I mean this pregnancy came as such a surprise, we haven't really talked about it," she explained. "I want more though. I mean I always wanted a big family so I think I'd like another one at least…maybe two."

"That would be awesome," Alex replied a huge smile on her face.

"It would be pretty awesome wouldn't it," JJ smiled. "Do me a favour though, and let me talk to your mom about it before you mention more babies okay?"

"Got it," Alex laughed, before letting out a rather big yawn.

"What's with you this weekend?" JJ asked with a laugh. "You've been like a zombie. Haven't you been sleeping?"

"We had a really late night on Friday at Zoey's," Alex replied quickly. "Guess I haven't quite caught up on my sleep yet."

"Ah guess it'll be an early night for you tonight then huh," JJ said. "Don't want you falling asleep at school tomorrow."

"Probably a good idea," Alex laughed, just as Emily popped her head in the doorway.

"Hey I thought I heard talking," the older brunette said, letting herself into the room. "How are my sleeping beauties doing?"

"Better now," JJ replied, smiling as Emily got into bed on Alex's other side; the teen chuckling softly as her mother immediately pulled her into her arms, kissing the back of her head. "Definitely needed that nap."

"Me too," Alex grinned. "Could we have burgers for dinner? With fries? Oh and milkshakes?"

"Oh yeah that sounds perfect," JJ quickly agreed.

"Sure," Emily laughed. "Would you two like me to order in or do homemade?"

"Either way's good," Alex replied.

"But homemade is better," JJ added.

"Alright homemade it is," Emily said, shaking her head with a laugh. "You two are lucky I love you both."

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"Ugh why did you make me eat so much," Alex groaned later that night, lying down on the couch with her head in Emily's lap. "I think I'm going to explode."

"Excuse me missy?" Emily replied disbelievingly. "Made you? I'm pretty sure I'm the one who told you that the second milkshake was a bad idea, JJ told you to go for it. Blame her."

"Hey you can't blame me!" JJ scoffed. "I'm pregnant you don't get to blame me for things. Plus I don't know what you're complaining about Lex, I ate just as much as you did and I feel fine."

"Probably because I'm not seven months pregnant," Alex replied, throwing her arm over her face dramatically. "I don't think I can even move until morning. Just put a blanket on me and leave me here all night."

"Aw such a little drama queen," Emily laughed. "I hope you don't expect me to stay here and act as your pillow all night though, because that's never gonna happen kiddo."

"Don't you love me?" Alex asked, uncovering her face and sticking out her bottom lip, giving her mother her best puppy dog face.

"I love you very much, but if I sleep on this couch I won't be able to get up in the morning, so you're on your own," Emily laughed.

"So Lex what do you have going on this week at school?" JJ asked from the other end of the couch, rubbing her hand up and down the teen's leg. "Anything exciting?"

"I have a presentation and two tests," Alex replied, smiling as Emily began to run her fingers through her hair. "I also promised Spencer I would help with debate team this week. The school's hosting a debate against some other school in the city and they need help setting up or something, so she pretty much begged me to do it."

"You know I would love to see Spencer debate," Emily said. "Something tells me that girl would be a force to be reckoned with during a debate."

"Trust me she is," Alex laughed. "I mean I haven't seen an actual debate yet but I've heard her practice and it's intense," she explained. "Plus she loves it."

"Soccer tryout should be starting up soon shouldn't they?" JJ then asked, anxious to see the teen played.

"End of the month," Alex nodded with a smile. "And auditions for the spring musical are actually next week. I know it's going to be a lot but I really want to do both," she added. "I think if I use my lunch periods and study hall to keep up with my homework and use my weekends for projects and studying then I should be okay."

"Seems like you've put a lot of thought into this," JJ smiled.

"I have."

"Well if anyone can do it, it's you," Emily laughed, confident that her teen could handle just about anything when it came to school. "I think you'll be just fine."

"Thanks," Alex smiled, shutting her eyes sleepily, rubbing her stomach; obviously still full from her dinner. "Do you think you guys will be gone much this week?"

"Oh probably," JJ sighed.

"Unfortunately serial killers rarely take a break," Emily added. "But maybe we'll get lucky and only be gone a few days again. I mean last week wasn't so bad."

"Yeah I know," Alex nodded, squinting open her eyes to look up at her mother. "I just miss you guys when you're gone."

"Aw we miss you too sweetie," Emily replied, leaning forward and placing a kiss on the teen's forehead. "So, so much."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello my friends!**

**Chapter 2 is here, and I hope you like it. I wanted to set things up for the trouble that Alex will be getting herself into, and I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter (I've got lots of ideas). So enjoy this one, and I will do my best to get the next one done and up as soon as I can!**

**Enjoy! -J**

**Chapter 2**

_She was tied to a chair. The rope binding her wrists and ankles was tight; surely cutting into her skin as she attempted to loosen the knots, hoping to get away. Her attempts were to no avail though, as she pulled and pulled, the bindings never budging as tears began to fall down her face._

_"You're wasting your time," a gruff voice told her as she noticed the man, whom she didn't recognize, standing in the doorway. "They're not going to come undone Alexandra," he said, the teen shuddering, unsure how this man knew her name. "You're just going to hurt yourself."_

_"Who...who are you?" Alex stuttered._

_"I think you know the answer to that," the man practically sneered. "I mean I'm sure your mother must have warned me about you."_

_"P-Parrilla?" Alex asked nervously. "Isaac Parrilla?" She repeated as the man nodded, an evil looking grin on his face. "You're not going to get away with this," she said, once again struggling against the ropes that were binding her to the chair. "My mother's going to find me."_

_"What makes you think your mother is looking for you?" Parrilla asked. "I mean if she really cared about you do think she would have left you?" He continued, moving closer to the teen as he pulled out a large, sharp knife. "I mean come on, she had to know I'd find you…that I'd come after you," he said. "So why would she leave you alone? Why wouldn't she stay home and keep you safe."_

_"She..she was," Alex replied, her uncertainty evident in her voice. "She loves me…she'll be looking for me."_

_"Oh Alex, so young, so naïve," Parrilla said, lightly dragging the knife up the teen's arm so as not to actually cut her. "Your mother's out of town. Her team is on a case. They don't even know you're missing yet," he continued. "And by the time they figure out that you're gone it'll already be too late," he said, pushing the knife down harder now. "I'll be done by then and you'll be long gone."_

_"No!"_

"No!" Alex shouted bolting up in bed, her breathing heavy and filled with panic as she flicked on her bedside lamp, searching the room so as to assure herself that Isaac Parrilla wasn't there. "It was just a dream," the teen sighed out loud, grateful for the fact that her mothers didn't hear her shouting from down the hall. "It was just a dream Alex, calm down," she told herself.

Alex knew what Emily and JJ had told her about Parrilla. She knew that the team were doing everything in their power to find the man who had kidnapped and tortured young girls who looked just like Alex, before eventually shooting Emily in the shoulder and escaping. Her mothers had reassured her more than once that she had nothing to worry about, and yet the teen couldn't help but feel anxious and her anxiety was never more evident than when she slept.

The nightmares had begun as soon as Emily had returned to work, despite the fact that the team hadn't even caught a case since her return; meaning they had been working from Quantico and were home every night. Alex worried about the ladies getting a case all week and could only breathe a sigh of relief when they made it to Saturday without getting called away. And yet the nightmares continued. The teen's fears and insecurities regarding Parrilla appeared in her dreams and every time she woke up she couldn't help but let her doubts creep into her waking thoughts as well.

Because the Parrilla in her dream had a point. Why wouldn't her mother stay with her until the killer was caught?

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"Jareau," JJ answered her cell phone while doing her makeup in the bathroom mirror the next morning, not bothering to check the caller I.D first.

"Hey JJ," Hotch's voice came through the phone. "Sorry to bother you at home, but I just wanted to let you know that I got a call and we're going to need to head to Cleveland as soon as everyone gets here," he explained. "We've got a serial rapist whose first victim was just murdered. Chief of police called me personally."

"Okay, why don't you fax me the details and I can go over it on our way over," JJ suggested. "I'm guessing the media is going to be a madhouse on this one."

"Definitely, which is why I wanted to warn you," Hotch replied. "I was actually thinking of calling the team and just having everyone meet at the airstrip so we can leave straight away. We can brief on the plane."

"That's probably a good idea," JJ said, nodding even though her boss couldn't see her. "I can call Reid and let Garcia know too if you want."

"That would be great, thanks JJ."

"No problem Hotch, we'll see you soon," the blonde replied before ending the call, placing her phone down on the bathroom vanity.

"You talking to yourself in here crazy girl?" Emily said, poking her head into the bathroom with a goofy grin on her face.

"Actually I was on the phone," JJ replied rolling her eyes at the brunette. "Hotch called. We've got a case in Cleveland. Serial rapist whose first victim was just murdered."

"Which means we could have two unsubs," Emily states.

"And the media is going to be nuts," JJ nodded. "We're meeting at the airstrip to save some time. I need to call Reid and Garcia to let them both know."

"Alright well while you do that I'll go wake the kid and let her know we're leaving," Emily said, leaving forward and giving the blonde a chaste kiss. "I'll meet you downstairs beautiful."

"With toast? With peanut butter and jelly?" The blonde asked with a smile.

"You got it," Emily laughed, making her way out of the bathroom; hearing the blonde dialing her phone as she made her way through the master bedroom, grabbing her briefcase before heading towards her daughter's bedroom.

Knowing Alex liked to sleep as long as she could before getting up for school, Emily knew the teen would still be asleep; not bothering to knock before letting herself into the bedroom, smiling at the sight of dark hair sticking out of the covers, the rest of the teen burrowed underneath. Making her way over to the bed, Emily sat down on the edge of the bed pulling the covers down so she could see Alex's face.

"Lex," the older brunette called, brushing her fingers through her daughter's dark locks. "Lex baby time to wake up."

"No," Alex groaned, turning over so her back was to her mother. "Go away. Too early."

"Actually your alarm should be going off in like five minutes," Emily said poking the teen's ribs and earning a disgruntled groan in reply. "Baby, come on Jen and I are leaving soon. I just wanted to let you know you're going to have to stay with the Hastings tonight."

"What? Why?" Alex finally responded, sitting up quickly and looking and her mother with wide, worried eyes.

"Because we have a case," Emily replied slowly, unsure why Alex seemed so confused. "We're leaving for Cleveland, I'm not sure when we'll be back."

"Oh…right…fine," Alex replied shortly, suddenly unable to meet her mother's eye. "I'll uh just come and pack a bag after school."

"Okay," Emily nodded. "Well why don't you get ready and come down and say goodbye before we leave okay? We'll probably try to leave in the next half hour or so."

"Yeah sure," Alex replied, pulling the covers off. "I'll be down soon."

"Sounds good," Emily said, leaning forward and placing a kiss against the teen's head. "Love you sweetheart."

"Yeah love you too," Alex replied, desperately trying to keep her worries out of her voice.

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"Alex was acting kind of weird this morning," Emily said when she and JJ were almost at the airstrip; the brunette at the wheel, while her girlfriend sat in the passenger seat, reading over the files Hotch had faxed them before they left. "Don't you think?"

"She seemed quieter than usual," JJ replied, looking up from the file. "But it was early. She's a teenager; she's probably just having a teen day. You know how it is."

"Yeah I know," Emily sighed. "But it seemed like more than that. I mean you should have seen her face when I told her we were leaving. It was like she was surprised and considering how long we've been doing this now you'd think she'd be used to it."

"Well it is the first time we've been called away since you came back to work," JJ pointed out.

"Yes, but I didn't even take that much time off," Emily countered. "So why would that matter?"

"Em you got shot," JJ said, turning towards the brunette with a disbelieving look on her face. "You got shot on a case and now you're going back out in the field. She's probably scared."

"We talked though," Emily replied. "Last Sunday before I went back. We talked about me going back and she told me a million times over that she was okay."

"Emily she's a teenager," JJ sighed. "AND she's a Prentiss. You know she's not going to come straight out and tell you she's scared," she said. "We worked from the office all last week. She saw you every day, so she knew you were okay, but that's going to be different this week. She's not going to see you; she's not going to know you're okay."

"But…" Emily began, pausing as she bit her lip, taking in what JJ had just told her. "God I'm an idiot," she eventually huffed as she made the last turn into the airport parking lot.

"You're not an idiot," JJ assured the brunette, reaching over and taking her hand. "You just believe your daughter when she tells you that she's fine and you trust her to talk to you when something's wrong," she said. "There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to remember that she's not always going to do that."

"So what do I do?" Emily asked, turning to the blonde with wide, worried eyes. "I mean should I not go?"

"You have to go," JJ replied. "You know that, but I definitely think you need to call her and talk to her," she said. "Just reassure her that you're going to be just fine and do your best to keep in contact with her while you're gone so she knows. Chances are she's going to keep being quiet and a little disconnected but it'll make her feel better. Even if she doesn't tell you."

"You're right," Emily nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Thank you, I just…thanks," she said, looking up with a small smile.

"Anytime," JJ smiled. "Now come on, let's get to Cleveland and solve this thing so we can get back to our girl okay?"

"Okay," Emily agreed, taking a deep breath as she got out of the car, willing herself to get her head in the case so she could worry about her daughter when they got to the hotel that night.

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"What's up with you this morning?" Spencer asked as she followed Alex off the bus in front of their school. "Why are you so quiet?"

"I'm just tired," Alex replied, not looking her friend in the eyes. "My mom woke me before my alarm so her and JJ could say goodbye before they left. Guess I needed those five extra minutes."

"Oh," Spencer said nodding in understanding. "That sucks. Where were they going this time?"

"Cleveland," Alex replied as they made their way into the building.

"Right," Spencer replied. "Well if you want we could watch that movie you wanted to watch last week tonight. Have a lazy night."

"Yeah sure," Alex nodded, still not meeting Spencer's eyes as they headed towards their lockers.

"Hey are you sure you're okay?" Spencer asked again, grabbing Alex's arm and forcing her to turn around and face her. "Lex."

"Spencer I'm fine," Alex snapped, seeing Logan coming up behind the taller brunette. "Just drop it okay?"

"Hey you," Logan greeted, placing a kiss on Alex's cheek. "Hey Spencer. You guys okay?" He asked, suddenly noticing the tense looks between the pair; Spencer still holding Alex's arm.

"We're fine," Spencer replied, plastering a smile on her face as she let go of her friend's arm. "I just remembered I have to meet Zoey before class though. I'll see you guys at lunch," she said, throwing Alex one last worried glance before walking away.

Watching her friend walk away, Alex then turned towards Logan, smiling as she met the blue eyes of her boyfriend. "How was your weekend?" She asked.

"It was pretty good," Logan replied with a smile. "But I missed you. I feel like we never get to see each other anymore," he continued. "Which is why I think I should come over after school today. We can do our homework together or something. How does that sound?"

"I wish we could," Alex sighed. "Mom and JJ got a case. They're probably already in the air on their way to Cleveland. I'm staying with the Hastings so…"

"Oh right," Logan replied disappointedly.

"As soon as they're back we can do that though," Alex quickly told him, wishing she could just spend her afternoon with her boyfriend at her house despite the rules that had been set out when they started dating. "And we can have a date night this weekend. Go to dinner. The movies. Whatever you want."

"Sure," Logan nodded, once again with a smile on his face. "That sounds perfect," he said, placing another kiss on Alex's cheek. "I can't wait."

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Alex did her best to keep her focus on school that day, but with each hour that passed the teen became more and more exhausted; her thoughts beginning to drift to the dream she had the night before. The more she thought about her dream, the more worried she became.

She knew her mother loved her. She knew there was very little the older brunette wouldn't do for her, and yet she couldn't understand how she could just leave her when Parrilla was still on the loose. Despite what her mother had told her about keeping her safe, Alex's nightmares had inserted doubts in her mind; doubts that were no longer going away when she was awake.

The teen's thoughts became so plagued by her worry that when her cell phone began to ring later that night as she sat at Spencer's desk working on her homework, she considered not answering it. Deciding that her mother was likely to keep calling until she did answer though, Alex hit the answer button before bringing the object to her ear.

"Hi Mom," Alex greeted, her exhaustion evident in her voice.

"Hey sweetie," Emily replied. "How's it going? How was school?"

"It's good, school was school," Alex responded, feeling slightly awkward. "How's…how's the case."

"It's…awful," Emily sighed, unsure how else to describe what was going on in Cleveland. "It's definitely a bad one, but I don't want to talk about that," she explained. "I just wanted to talk to you about this morning."

"This morning?" Alex questioned. "What about this morning?"

"Well you just seemed a little…off I guess," Emily explained. "I just want to make sure that you're okay honey I mean if there's something wrong then,"

"Mom I'm fine," Alex quickly interrupted, her voice sharp and slightly irritated.

"Really because you don't sound fine," Emily replied, realizing that her own irritation and tiredness was seeping through her voice; taking a deep breath in order to calm herself down. "Alex if you're worried about me being away you don't need to be. I mean we talked about this remember? I'm going to be just fine. The team will be looking out for me, just like they always are."

"It's not…it's not that," Alex denied, not sounding very convincing. "I'm fine okay? Nothing is wrong," she continued. "I was tired this morning and I just have a lot on my mind. It's fine."

"If you have a lot on your mind then talk to me Lex," Emily replied, sounding disappointed. "Honey I'm here to listen, always. I really hope you know that."

"I…I do," Alex replied quietly, biting her lip as she considered whether or not to bring up her nightmares, just as Spencer came into the room; quietly making her way towards her bed as she noticed her friend on the phone. "Listen it's nothing okay. I've really gotta go though, I still have a ton of homework. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay," Emily sighed. "I'll call tomorrow night when I can. I love you sweetheart."

"Love you too," Alex quickly replied. "Night," she said before hanging up, immediately turning towards her homework; feeling Spencer's eyes on her back.

"Was that your mom?" Spencer asked.

"Yep," Alex nodded, still not turning around.

"How's she doing?"

"She's good," Alex replied, looking over her shoulder. "I really need to finish this though," she said gesturing towards her notebook.

"Right, sure," Spencer smiled, opening up her own books as she lay out on her bed, falling silent as they both began their separate assignments.

Though Alex's attention was on her notebook, the teen couldn't focus; wondering if perhaps she had done the wrong thing in not being honest with her mother. She knew Emily would be upset with her if she knew she was hiding her nightmares from her, but she honestly wasn't sure what to say. Because for the first time since they had met in Chicago; since she had found out the truth about who Emily was, Alex just didn't know how to talk to her mother. And she didn't know what to do about that.

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**The next chapter the trouble begins! :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**So I may have had a little bit of fun writing this chapter, which resulted in a rather quick update, so I really hope you guys like it! So excited to keep going with this story!**

**Enjoy and let me know what you think! -J**

**Chapter 3**

For Alex Monday had been tiring, but it was nothing compared to Tuesday. Having been woken up by another nightmare that night, the teen spent the rest of the evening tossing and turning, doing her best not to wake Spencer beside her. That day at school had been difficult, Alex becoming more irritable as the day passed, unable to hide it from her friends who were constantly asking her what was wrong. She had hoped that her exhaustion would result in a dreamless sleep, but Tuesday night had been just as bad and the teen woke up in an even worse mood on Wednesday.

Her sour mood had resulted in an argument with Spencer, who refused to stop asking her what was wrong with her; Alex eventually yelling at her before they both got on the school bus, taking separate seats far away from each other.

"So you're just not going to talk to me the rest of the day?" Spencer asked, coming up behind the shorter brunette as they got off the bus; not ready to give up quite yet. "In case you forgot we share a room. It's kind of hard to avoid each other."

"Well I guess I'll have to try really hard won't I?" Alex snapped back over her shoulder, not slowing down as she made her way towards the school. "Just let it go Spencer. There's nothing wrong so just let it go."

"I don't get what your problem is," Spencer huffed, still following close behind. "I'm just worried about you. Is that so bad?"

"There's nothing to worry about okay?" Alex replied, her voice softening only slightly, seeing the look on her friend's face. "I'm tired. I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning, but you just need to let it go okay. I'm fine," she repeated for what felt like the millionth time in the last 3 days. "I'm going to go find Logan. I'll see you later."

"Yeah see you later," Spencer said, shaking her head as Alex walked away in the direction of her boyfriend's locker.

It wasn't that Alex thought Spencer wouldn't understand. In fact the teen knew that Spencer, Zoey and Olivia would be perfectly understanding about what she was going through, but she was sick of talking. Ever since she had moved to D.C she had done nothing but talk; to Dr. Sullivan, to her mom and JJ, to Spencer and Zoey and Olivia and yet here she was. It seemed like no matter how much she talked about it she still found herself back in the same place: afraid.

So she was done with talking. She was talked out, and ready to find a new way to work out her problems, and the way she saw it, the best way to do that was through distraction.

"There you are," Alex smiled, finding Logan not far from his locker, searching through his backpack. "Hi," she said, leaning in to kiss the blonde boy on the lips.

"Hi," Logan replied happily when Alex eventually pulled away. "You look happy this morning," he said, unable to see the dark circles under her eyes; successfully covered under a layer of cover-up.

"I am happy," Alex confirmed, still smiling. "Because I have great news."

"Oh yeah?" Logan asked, intrigued. "And what would that be?"

"We can finally spend some time together today," Alex replied. "After school. You and me at my house."

"Really?" Logan smiled, receiving a happy nod in reply from the brunette. "Your moms are back?"

"No not exactly," Alex said shaking her head. "But I told them we haven't really gotten to spend any time together lately and they said it would be okay if we hung out after school."

"But I thought that was against their rules," Logan questioned. "No boyfriends over when they're not home?"

"I know, I know, but they said we could bend the rules just this once," Alex lied, hoping the blonde wouldn't see her deceit behind the smile she plastered on her face. "I mean I have to check in with the Hastings and I have to be back across the street by dark, but they trust me," she explained. "They said we deserve a couple hours with each other. Besides we're just going to do homework."

"Wow that sounds perfect," Logan smiled, easily believing his girlfriend. "Alright well I'll have to go home and feed the dog after school, but I'll head over right after?"

"Perfect," Alex grinned, giving the boy another chaste kiss. "I can't wait."

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"So did you talk to the kid last night?" Morgan asked as he and Emily drove to the latest crime scene, going to identify their third victim of the case; both hoping to find something that would lead them to their killer, since they had identified their rapist the night before. "I mean I know she wasn't very chatty on Monday, but were things at least better yesterday?"

"I called her, but she didn't really have much to say," Emily sighed, frustrated by her lack of communication with her daughter. "I mean she's obviously mad about something, but it's hard to get a read on her over the phone. And anytime I try to talk to her; like really talk to her, she brushes me off and tells me she has to go," she explained. "I need to talk to her face to face where she can't just hit end call and get rid of me."

"Yeah that's gotta be rough," Morgan nodded understandingly. "But you know I gotta say it's about time that kid started acting like a teenager. I mean she's been far to well behaved and agreeable since she moved here. It's just not normal."

"Gee thanks buddy," Emily laughed shaking her head. "I get what you mean though," she sighed. "I've had it far too easy with the kid. I mean yeah she's been through hell but we've gotten along a lot easier than I originally anticipated, so I guess I can't really complain," she continued. "I just really hope she'll talk to me. I hate this whole being shut out thing. It's just not us. I don't want this kind of relationship with my kid," she said, thinking about how her relationship with her own mother had been like when she was a teen.

"It's not gonna be like this forever Em," Morgan was quick to assure her. "All teens shut their parents out at some point but Alex loves you and she respects you so much," he said, momentarily taking his eyes off the road to look at his friend. "She's going to come you. This will all pass and everything will be fine. She's just a teen."

"Right," Emily nodded, trying her best to ignore the worry in the pit of her stomach and really hear what her partner was telling her. "She's just a teen."

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"Hey so I got a text from my mom," Alex said as she sat down next to Olivia later that day at lunch, looking towards Spencer who was sitting across from them. "They're on their way home," she lied, glad that Logan was busy working on sets for the musical and therefore wasn't coming to the cafeteria for lunch.

Since Alex had been lacking actual sleep the last couple nights, she had, had plenty of time to think, which had resulted in a plan. She knew she shouldn't lie, not to Logan or Spencer or any of the Hastings, but she needed to keep her mind off of the nightmares and she knew there was little possibility of anyone finding out about her deceit.

"Wow already?" Zoey said, from next to Spencer. "That was a pretty fast case."

"Yeah I know," Alex shrugged. "It happens sometimes though. I guess they caught a lead pretty late last night and made their arrest this morning. They'll be home by like dinner so I'm just going to go home after school. Probably make some pasta or something for them."

"Okay," Spencer nodded. "I'll let my parents know when they get home from work. You sure you don't want to come over and work on the math homework together though? You could go home after that," she suggested, feeling bad about their argument that morning.

"Nah I really want to do something nice for Mom and JJ," Alex said, shaking her head. "I really think they would appreciate dinner, but I'll call you tonight and we can go over our answers if you want."

"Yeah sounds good," Spencer agreed, slightly confused by her friend's change of attitude from that morning, but figuring it had to do with the fact that her moms were coming home.

"Perfect," Alex smiled. "So Liv any good gossip today?" She then asked, desperate to change the subject.

As Olivia began telling a story about a guy in her first period class, Alex couldn't help but let her thoughts drift, feeling a sudden sense of guilt for lying; trying her best to snap out of it. Because even though she felt guilty, she still wanted to spend some time with Logan and there was no way she was going to get caught. Right?

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As each hour passed that day Alex felt more and more nervous about her plan. She felt confident that her moms wouldn't be home that night, so she wasn't really worried about them catching her, but she knew that Spencer would be difficult to fool, especially when her friend figured out that no one was home with her the next day. She knew spending a night alone probably wasn't the best idea given the fact that Parrilla was still out there, but she knew it was the only way to get away with her lie; planning on telling Spencer at some point the next day that the team had been called away yet again so she could return to the Hasting's.

In an attempt to avoid telling too many more lies, Alex had been quiet on the bus ride home; something, which Spencer had apparently given up on asking about since she had sat beside the shorter brunette in silence. Their walk from the bus to their houses was spent discussing plans for their phone call later that night so they could go over their math answers together; Alex knowing she would have to be careful so as not to clue Spencer into the fact that she was alone while they were on the phone. Since she still had a bag of things at the Hastings, Alex had run up to Spencer's room with her friend, collecting her clothes from around the room and stuffing them into her bag before saying her goodbyes; practically running back to her own house.

Knowing Logan would probably head over as soon as he could, Alex quickly fed Sergio, rummaging through the kitchen cupboards for snacks before grabbing a couple cokes and putting everything out on the coffee table in the family room just as the doorbell rang. Smiling, the teen quickly made her way to the door, opening it up to find the blonde waiting on the other side with a big smile on his face.

"Hey," he greeted with a grin, stepping inside and immediately pulling his girlfriend in for a kiss. "Do you know how great it is to finally get to see you outside of school?" He asked when he finally pulled away, taking Alex's hand in his. "I've missed this."

"Me too," Alex smiled, squeezing Logan's hand as she pulled him further into the house, throwing the front door closed behind her. "I mean I know it's not a date or anything, but at least we're actually alone. No interruptions."

"It's perfect," Logan agreed, allowing the brunette to lead him into the family room where they both sat down on the floor, leaning against the couch so they could use the coffee table to do their work. "Do you have a lot to do?" He asked, gesturing towards Alex's notebooks.

"Basically just math, but I have a creative writing assignment I want to get started on too," Alex explained, opening up her math textbook. "What about you?"

"I've got some science and a little math," Logan replied opening up his coke and taking a sip. "It's nice to have someone to keep me company while I do all this though."

"I couldn't agree more," Alex smiled, the pair falling silent as they both began to read their textbooks.

The young couple were content to work side by side, both working steadily, while also enjoying their snacks and sharing the occasional smile. For the first time all week Alex allowed herself to forget her worries, happy to be spending time with her boyfriend.

It had been nearly 45 minutes when Alex became distracted from her homework; her attention falling on her boyfriend who was reading through his book, the end of his pen in his mouth. The brunette couldn't help but smile at the adorable look of concentration on her boyfriend's face; her staring eventually drawing the blonde's attention away from his work.

"What are you smiling at?" Logan asked with a grin of his own on his face.

"Just you," Alex replied happily, with a glint in her eye.

Breaking out into an even bigger grin, Logan dropped his pen before leaning back against the couch. "Come here," he said gesturing for the brunette to come closer with his head, Alex immediately complying as she allowed the blonde to pull her in for a kiss.

As Logan knotted his fingers into her hair, Alex couldn't help but smile before deepening the kiss as she grabbed a fistful of the blonde's button down shirt, which the teen had worn open over an undershirt. Emboldened by the fact that they were alone and therefore wouldn't be interrupted, the couple continued to make out sitting on the floor, until air eventually became an issue and they were forced to pull apart.

Resting her forehead against Logan's, Alex smiled as the blonde placed a kiss on her nose; the couple breathing heavily. Taking Logan's hand in hers, Alex stood in order to move herself onto the couch; tugging at her boyfriend's hand.

"Come on," Alex said, lying back on the sofa.

"Maybe we should just keep studying," Logan suggested, not wanting to get his girlfriend into trouble since her mothers had trusted them to be home alone.

"I think we deserve a break," Alex replied, still pulling at the blonde's hand. "Come on, I want to spend some time with my boyfriend," she tried again. "Just ten minutes. Then we'll go right back to work."

Smiling, Alex could see the boy lose his resolve, eventually standing up and allowing Alex to pull him towards her. Feeling slightly nervous, Logan seemed unsure of himself all of a sudden; only allowing himself to hover over Alex, hesitating until the brunette grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

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"Did you call Lex and let her know we're almost home?" JJ asked as Emily drove them through the gate into their neighbourhood.

"No," Emily replied shaking her head. "She's been so hard to talk to on the phone all week, I figured I'd just go over to the Hasting's and get her. She'll either be thrilled or pretend she doesn't care but at least she won't be able to tell me she has homework and hang up," she explained rather bitterly.

"I'm sorry Em," JJ said sympathetically, placing a hand on the brunette's knee. "I know this week has been hard on you, but we'll figure this out okay," she continued. "I mean she's not really talking to either one of us right now, but we'll all sit down and get to the bottom of whatever's going on. It'll be okay."

"I really hope you're right," Emily sighed, turning into their driveway, pulling in front of the garage before putting the car in park. "You know despite all of this stuff going on, I'm really glad to be home."

"Me too," JJ smiled as they both got out of the car. "Me too baby. Now lets go drop all this off so you can go get our girl," she said, coming around the car and following Emily towards the front door; the brunette pulling out her keys and pushing them into the lock. "So what are you feeling for dinner because I'd really love some…"

"Oh my God," a male voice interrupted the blonde, Emily and JJ both jumping as Logan popped up from the couch scrambling to pick up his button up shirt to put back on over his undershirt.

"Oh God," Alex groaned, quickly sitting up, a shocked look on her face at the sight of her mothers at the door. "Mom…JJ…I…"

"Alex, what is going on here?" Emily asked, her voice angry, and her face red. "What are you two doing here?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello my Friends!**

**So again I'm totally having a good time writing this story and so far it's just coming to me (making me want to write during all my free time)! I really hope you like it.**

**Also just keep in mind that the trouble isn't over yet! This is only the beginning!**

**Chapter 4**

"Alex," Emily repeated slowly, her voice low and angry; Alex and Logan both apparently frozen in both shock and fear. "What are you two doing here? Alone."

"Emi…Ms. Prentiss I…" Logan attempted to say something, stuttering helplessly.

"Alex," Emily interrupted, her attention focused solely on her daughter, while ignoring the blonde boy. "You better start explaining."

"Logan I think maybe you should go," JJ quickly suggested, seeing the anger on her girlfriend's face, while Alex simply stood, repeatedly opening and closing her mouth. "Alex will see you at school," she said, ushering the teen to get his things and leading him towards the front door; knowing from the look on the boy's face that he was terrified.

"Alex, I'm not going to ask you again," Emily said threateningly once Logan was out the door; JJ making her way over to stand next to the brunette.

"We…we were just studying," Alex eventually replied, her voice quiet and afraid.

"That didn't really look like studying to me," Emily was quick to respond; referring to the fact that she had found the young couple sprawled out on the couch; Logan immediately jumping off of Alex in order to put his button up shirt back over his undershirt.

"We took a break," Alex sighed, her voice slightly louder as she began to feel defensive. "We were just kissing. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Emily repeated incredulously. "There are rules in this house. You were there when we made them remember? No boys when JJ or me aren't here. Remember that?" She asked practically yelling now, Alex's eyes falling to the floor. "You two aren't supposed to be here alone."

"I know," Alex whispered.

"You know and yet here we are," Emily said, unable to control her anger. "Was this Logan's idea? Did he pressure you into coming here?"

"What? No!" Alex quickly denied, not wanting to get her boyfriend into even more trouble then they were already in.

"Then what Alex?"

"It was my idea okay?" Alex replied, raising her voice as her own anger got the best of her. "I wanted to come here. I told Logan that you said it was okay and invited him over. We were studying and I made him take a break. I started all of this," she said motioning towards the couch. "It was all my idea okay?"

"And what the hell was going to happen here if we didn't interrupt?" Emily asked, breathing deeply.

"Em," JJ tried to interrupt, not wanting to see the two brunettes blowing up at each other; afraid of what the older of the pair might say, knowing she would regret it if she hurt her daughter.

"No Jen I want to know what exactly Alex was thinking here," Emily said, not taking her eyes off the teen. "So? What exactly were you two going to do here all night by yourselves?"

"Nothing!" Alex quickly shouted. "We were just going to do our homework. I told him I had to be back at the Hastings' by dark. I was going to spend the night here by myself. That's it," she explained angrily. "We were just kissing. I'm not having sex with him, and I have no plans to."

"Then why go to all this trouble?" Emily asked, still not believing the teen. "Why all the secrets and the lies? Something just isn't adding up here Alex."

"I don't know okay," Alex yelled. "I just wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend. I wanted to be with someone who cares about me. I didn't…I…"

"You're grounded," Emily interrupted, her voice far too calm; ignoring the looks JJ was giving her beside her. "Two weeks. No TV, no phone, no computer," she said. "No friends, no Friday night sleepovers. You will go to school. You will go to auditions for the play because you need an extra-curricular, but you will come straight home afterwards."

"And how exactly is all of that going to work when I spend most of my time living with the Hastings?" Alex questioned.

"I'll figure out a different arrangement, don't you worry," Emily was quick to reply.

"Great," Alex replied sarcastically. "Can't wait."

Angry and frustrated by her daughter's attitude, Emily shook her head not knowing what to say; understanding that whatever she said at this moment would only result in more arguing.

"Go to your room," the older brunette finally ordered. "Leave your phone on the table and just go to your room."

"Fine," Alex huffed, throwing her phone on the coffee table and scooping up her school things before moving past her mother and JJ. "Whatever," she mumbled; avoiding both their gazes before stomping up the stairs towards her room.

The sound of the teen's bedroom door slamming shut filled the house, JJ flinching slightly; rubbing her stomach as she turned towards her girlfriend who was still fuming in anger. "Em you need to calm down," the blonde said, practically whispering; reaching out to grab the brunette's hand, which was quickly pulled away.

"Calm down?" Emily hissed. "How can I possibly calm down Jen? She broke the rules. She lied, she kept secrets and she brought Logan over here to do God knows what. He didn't even have his shirt on when we got here Jen. God only knows what would have happened if we didn't get here when we did."

"Emily, you know Alex wouldn't do that," JJ assured her, feeling confident that the teen had not brought her boyfriend over with the intention to have sex. "You're angry so you're not thinking clearly, but deep down I know, you know she wasn't doing that," she continued. "She's just screaming for attention right now, and you need to calm down and go up there and talk to her. You can't leave it like this. You need to talk to her."

"And say what?" Emily asked disbelievingly. "I am so mad right now I don't even know…I can't," she said shaking her head.

"Emily..."

"No Jen," Emily interrupted before the blonde could say anymore. "I can't. I just can't do this right now," she said, making her way down the hall towards the office; immediately slamming the door behind her.

Once again flinching at the sound, JJ stood in the foyer in disbelief, not even sure where to go or what to do at this point. Completely surprised by Alex's behaviour, JJ wasn't sure what to think, only sure that things were going to be rough at home for the next two weeks.

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Still unsure what to do JJ had sat in the living room for nearly an hour, expecting Emily to reemerge at some point. When that didn't happen JJ finally decided to take action into her own hands, heading upstairs towards Alex's room. The blonde knocked lightly before letting herself in, finding Alex curled up on her bed; her back facing towards the door.

"Alex," JJ called quietly, unsure if she was awake or not. "Honey, are you awake?"

There was a moment's silence, Alex not saying anything, until she eventually turned around, remaining curled up, but now facing the blonde. "I'm up," she sniffed; JJ immediately able to tell that the teen had been crying. "Did you come to take my stuff?"

"I'll take your laptop for your mom but we'll just take the cord for your TV," JJ replied, having thought about this while she sat in the living room. "But I didn't come up here for that," she said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," Alex replied quietly, staring at her comforter, picking at a loose string. "Mom's pretty mad," she eventually added.

"She's upset yes," JJ nodded. "We both are actually," she added, wanting it to be clear that she was also unhappy with the teen's behaviour. "But we're mostly worried about you kid. You're shutting everybody out, and you're telling lies and keeping secrets and that isn't you. Whatever is going on can't be bottled up forever Lex. You can't keep pushing us away."

"I…There's not…I just can't," Alex said, shaking her head. "I just can't."

"I know," JJ sighed, having known that the teen wasn't simply going to start talking right away. "I just wanted you to know I'll be here when you are ready. Your mom will be too," she continued. "We love you Lex. You need to remember that," she said, hoping the teen was really listening.

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It had been a quiet night at the Prentiss/Jareau house, JJ eventually making sandwiches, bringing one up to Alex before coaxing Emily out of the office and convincing her to eat with her. Emily had gone up to say goodnight to Alex, finding the teen already asleep, or at least pretending to be. Despite this fact, Emily had placed a soft kiss against her daughter's head, telling her she loved her before heading back to her own room.

While the older brunette was still upset with Alex, Emily wanted to make an effort to talk with the teen, knowing she had let her anger get the better of her when she had found Alex at the house with Logan, meaning she hadn't really listened to what her daughter was saying. Knowing that wasn't fair, Emily had hoped to talk with Alex before she left for school; unsuccessful though, as Alex had stayed up in her room until the last possible moment, yelling that she was leaving before running out the door.

Since her phone and computer had been taken away, Alex hadn't been able to speak to any of her friends the night before; anxious to explain herself to Logan and desperately wanting to tell Spencer what had happened. Expecting Spencer to be waiting out in front of her house like usual, Alex was surprised to find her friend wasn't there, heading towards the bus stop at the end of the street since she knew she would be late if she didn't. Figuring Spencer was either sick or getting a ride; Alex was even more surprised when she found the taller brunette standing at the street corner.

"Hey why didn't you wait for me?" Alex asked as she approached her friend, Spencer immediately crossing her arms across her chest, looking displeased. "I wasn't late was I? What's going..."

"Your mom called my parents last night," Spencer interrupted angrily. "Anything you want to tell me?"

Sighing, Alex could tell her friend was mad, unsure how to explain herself. "Look Spence I'm sorry okay? I shouldn't have lied to you about my moms coming home."

"Then why did you?" Spencer asked. "My parents think I knew exactly what was going on. They think I lied to them for you!" She explained. "I got a huge lecture and then I got grounded so thanks so much," she said sarcastically.

"Why didn't you just tell them that you didn't know?" Alex replied. "I mean this is exactly why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to get in trouble. You should have just told them exactly what I told you."

"Oh you don't think I tried that?" Spencer snapped. "I'm not stupid Lex. Obviously I told them that I didn't know but they didn't buy that story for a second. They think I was in on the whole thing because God forbid they actually believe anything I say, or you know listen to me at all."

"Spencer I'm…"

"And you know what the worst part is?" Spencer interrupted just as the bus approached their stop. "If you had told me the truth and asked me to cover for you I would have. But apparently you didn't even trust me enough for that," she concluded, getting on the bus and stomping away from her friend, effectively ending their conversation.

As she got on the bus and took a seat near the front of the bus by herself, Alex felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Yesterday she felt certain that she had a solid plan. She thought she would spend a nice afternoon with her boyfriend and then return back to the Hastings' the following morning and no one would need to know. Now as she peaked over her shoulder at the angry look on her best friend's face and she thought back to her mother's reaction the day before, Alex realized that she had completely messed up. And she had no idea how to fix it.

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"So they were on the couch? Horizontal? And he didn't have a shirt on?" Morgan asked Emily that morning in the office after the brunette recounted the previous night's events to her partner.

"Well technically he was wearing an undershirt, but still," Emily replied with a nod.

"Please tell me you destroyed him?" Morgan said. "Because I'm about ready to."

"Jen got him out of there pretty fast," Emily explained shaking her head. "But seriously Derek I don't think I've ever been so mad at Alex," she added. "I mean we basically went three days where she would barely talk to me. I've been freaking out the whole time, worried about what was going on and I come home to this. I didn't even know what to do, I was just seeing red and I completely lost my cool," she sighed. "It's a complete mess."

"Aw Princess I know it seems like a mess now, but it'll be alright," Morgan assured her. "She's a kid. She messed up. They all do it," he said. "Alex is a good kid. You just need to talk to her."

"I don't know how I'm going to do that now Morgan," Emily said shaking her head. "I mean I completely lost it on her yesterday. There's no way she's going to talk to me now."

"She will," Morgan quickly replied. "Seriously Em she will," she repeated when he saw the look of disbelief on his friend's face. "Just give her some time. You both need to calm down a bit. You guys will fix this."

"I really hope you're right Derek," Emily sighed. "God I hope you're right."

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During her bus ride to school, Alex realized that the next conversation she had to have was going to be the worst one yet; coming to the realization that her lies had hurt multiple people, suddenly wishing she could take the previous night back. Unfortunately for the teen though, life didn't work that way, and she had made her choices and now had to deal with the consequences. Not needing to wait for Spencer, Alex was quick to get off the bus once they arrived at the school; hurriedly making her way inside and heading straight for Logan's locker, hoping the blonde boy would still be there.

Seeing the blonde, Alex practically jogged towards him, an apology at the ready. "Logan I am so sorry," she quickly told him, the blonde turning towards her with a look of hurt on his face.

"What the heck was that Alex?" Logan asked, ignoring the brunette's apology. "You told me your parents knew I was coming over. You said it was okay. Why would you lie to me like that? Why would you lie about that?"

"I don't know okay," Alex replied, tears of frustration filling her eyes. "I don't know. I messed up. I wanted to spend time with you and I didn't know what else to do. I just…I messed up."

"I wanted to spend time with you too but not like this," Logan said shaking his head. "I could have waited for the weekend. We could have waited until your moms got home. I mean did you even think about how all of this would make me look? I mean your mom must think I'm…I don't even know, but I'm just so…so upset with you."

"I know, okay, I know," Alex replied tearfully. "I'm so sorry. I don't even know why I did it," she said, doing her best to keep her tears from falling, not wanting to create a scene in the middle of the hallway. "I told my mom it was all my idea though. I mean she doesn't think it was you. She knows it was me so it's okay."

"It's not okay though," Logan sighed. "I never thought you would lie to me like that Alex," he said sadly. "I just…I don't get it. I mean I know something has been going on with you this week…I'm not blind, but I thought you would come to me eventually. I even thought maybe you would talk to me last night, but you didn't…you never do."

"Logan…"

"I wanted to be there for you Alex," Logan continued on as if the brunette hadn't tried to interrupt. "I wanted to be there for whatever it is that's bothering you, but I don't know how to do that like this. I just…I don't know how to do this."

"What…what are you saying?" Alex asked, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Something's going on," Logan replied, looking at the floor rather than the brunette in front of him. "There's obviously some things that you need to work out, and I just…I think that we should take a break so that you can do that. I…I think maybe we need to stop seeing each other."

"You're breaking up with me?" Alex asked quietly, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"I think that it's for the best," Logan nodded, finally looking up, his own eyes glassy.

For a moment Alex looked like she was going to argue; like she was going to say something to convince the boy to change his mind, but instead the brunette closed her mouth, nodding as more tears began to fall. "Right," she whispered. "Okay. I…I have to go," she said before turning on her heal, pushing through the hallway as quickly as she could; needing to get away before she completely lost control.

Finding the nearest bathroom, Alex was relieved to find it empty, running into the last stall; shutting the door behind her before she allowed the tears to falls, keeping a hand over her mouth to hide her sobs. Overcome with emotions, the teen didn't even hear the bathroom door open; startled when there was a light knock on the stall door.

"Lex," Spencer's voice called from the other side of the door. "Alex open the door."

"Just go away," Alex replied, unsuccessfully trying to keep the tears out of her voice. "Just leave me alone."

"I'm not going to do that," Spencer sighed. "He's an idiot okay," she said, referring to Logan; having heard most of the conversation between the now ex-couple. "And he's a complete jerk. So come on. Open the door."

"I messed everything up," Alex cried, embarrassed and angry with herself, still not opening the door.

"You made a mistake," Spencer replied. "We all do it," she said, already forgiving her friend since she knew she needed her. "It's okay Lex."

At this Alex slid open the lock to the door, pulling it open to face Spencer as tears continued to fall down her face.

"Come here," Spencer said, opening up her arms, Alex immediately falling into them as she continued to sob.

"I'm so sorry," Alex cried.

"I know," Spencer nodded, hugging her friend tighter. "It's okay. I know."

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Work had been difficult for Emily, the brunette unable to concentrate all day; feeling terrible about the fact that she had yet to talk to her daughter after their argument the night before. Emily had lost track of the number of times she had picked up her phone to text Alex only to realize that she had taken the teen's phone away. When JJ had finally come to her desk just before 5pm asking if she was ready to go, the brunette had practically sprung from her chair, ready to get home and praying that she would be able to talk to her daughter once she got there.

"What if she won't talk to me?" Emily asked after pulling into the driveway, turning towards JJ with a worried look on her face. "I mean after the way I reacted yesterday I wouldn't talk to me. What if she won't?"

"Then you talk to her," JJ replied. "You had every right to be upset about what happened yesterday Emily," she assured the brunette for the third time that day. "She broke the rules, and you're worried. But there's something else going on here and you need to talk to her about it. Even if she completely ignores you and doesn't say a word at least she'll hear you. That's all you can do right now."

Nodding the couple had got out of the car, letting themselves into the house, which was completely silent.

"She must be upstairs," Emily pointed out, seeing the teen's shoes and jacket left in the foyer. "I'm going to go talk to her now."

"No problem," JJ nodded with a smile. "I'll get started with dinner. Good luck baby," she said giving the brunette a quick kiss before making her way into the kitchen, while Emily headed upstairs.

Knocking lightly on Alex's bedroom door, Emily received no reply, deciding to let herself in anyways, opening up the door to find her daughter lying in bed; the lights off and the teen facing the opposite wall. "Lex. Honey, we're home," Emily said, making her way over to the bed where she sat down on the edge, "Alex?"

"Mmm hmm?" Alex replied, not moving to turn around.

"Sweetie listen can we talk?" Emily asked hesitantly, really wishing her daughter would turn over and look at her.

"We don't have to," Alex answered, her voice sounding sad. "You were right. It was stupid to have Logan here. I broke the rules. I'm grounded. That's all there is to it."

"It's not all there is to it though is it?" Emily replied, watching as she daughter's back seemed to tense. "There's something else going on. Something, which has you not talking to me," she mentioned questioningly, hoping that the teen would turn around.

There was a moment's silence as Alex considered being honest with her mom; telling her about the nightmares she had been having and the resulting doubts because of them. She desperately wanted to tell her mom about Logan's breakup, wanting to cry in her mother's arms. But as she opened her mouth to begin, she suddenly hesitated, knowing how it would all sound.

"There's nothing else," Alex whispered, still refusing to roll over.

"Okay," Emily sighed, biting her lip and shaking her head. "Okay. But if there is something else going on, I want you to know that you can tell me Lex," she added. "You can tell me anything honey. I promise that I'll listen. Whatever it is Lex I'm here. I love you and I'm here for you," she continued, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder. "I'm not going to let you push me away sweetheart. I'll be here when you're ready," she said, standing up and leaning over so she could place a kiss on the younger brunette's head.

Walking away, it wasn't until Emily was already out the door that Alex finally turned over, staring at the now closed bedroom door and wiping away the tears from her face before finally whispering her reply.

"I love you too."

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**So I doubt many of you will be upset about Alex and Logan's breakup, but I think it needed to happen! Please forgive me if you are upset!**

**As I said at the beginning, there's much more to come for this story, so don't worry! I know Alex is being incredibly stubborn, but what teen isn't? She'll come around eventually though! She's just gotta get there on her own terms!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So sorry that I took so long to get this up! With Easter and work everything has been busy, but I hope this chapter will be worth the wait. **

**I know things are moving a little slowly in this chapter, but I just wanted to set a couple things up. I promise the trouble isn't over yet, and I have a couple things up my sleeves, coming up in a couple chapters. Stay patient and I promise it'll be worth it!**

**As always, thanks for reading! - J**

**Chapter 5**

Emily had hoped that after her talk with Alex things around the house wouldn't be too bad. She had hoped that her daughter would gradually open up and eventually tell her and JJ what was really bothering her; but unfortunately that wasn't what happened.

Alex had remained completely shut off the whole weekend; shut up in her room where she worked on her schoolwork in silence. Every few hours either Emily or JJ would head upstairs to check on her or coax her downstairs to eat. Meal times were mostly quiet, and slightly awkward as JJ tried to force small talk with the teen, mostly to no avail. Whatever Alex's problem was, she had refused to talk about it and decided to take her grounding in near silence.

Since she had yet to find an alternative to where Alex would stay if the team got called away on a case, Emily was grateful for the fact that they were able to spend the weekend at home where she could keep an eye on her daughter and be sure she wasn't sneaking off to see her boyfriend. Due to her lack of communication with the teen, Emily had made Alex and appointment with Dr. Sullivan Monday morning; waiting until Sunday to let the younger brunette know. Alex hadn't argued, simply agreeing to be up early and ready to go when Emily and JJ were ready to take her on their way to work.

"So the car service will pick you up right outside as soon as your appointment is over," Emily told Alex, turning around in the driver's seat of the car to face her daughter, who was sat in the back. "The driver is going to call me and let me know that you've arrived at school."

"Great," Alex replied sarcastically, knowing her mother was having the driver call her because she was worried about her running off. "Will…will you guys be home tonight?" She asked, her voice quiet, and slightly worried.

"We're not too sure yet," JJ replied, since she hadn't heard anything about a case yet, but knew there was a good possibility that something had come up over the weekend.

"If we get a case we'll call the school," Emily added.

"But where will I be going?" Alex asked, her voice now slightly annoyed in typical teenage fashion.

"We haven't quite worked that out yet but don't worry we will and I will let you know," Emily explained. "But if you don't hear from us you need to go…"

"Straight home after school," Alex finished for her mother. "I know. Still grounded. Trust me I haven't forgotten," she sighed.

"Em, she's going to be late," JJ noted looking at the time.

"Right," Emily nodded. "Alright kid, well have a good day and hopefully we'll see you tonight," she said, wishing the teen would ease up on her anger just a little bit. "Be good. I love you."

"Love you too," Alex replied quietly. "Love you JJ," she added even though she wasn't meeting either woman's eyes.

"Love you too sweetheart," JJ said with a small smile. "We'll see you later."

"Okay," Alex nodded, grabbing her backpack off the seat beside her before hopping out of the car, shutting the door behind her and making her way towards Dr. Sullivan's office building.

"You know I thought that this whole Alex not talking to us thing would get easier, but I'm pretty sure it's just getting harder," Emily sighed, watching her daughter make her way inside. "I just miss her. We've been with her all weekend and yet I miss her."

"I know babe," JJ agreed sadly placing a hand on the brunette's knee. "But she's going to come around eventually," she said. "She loves you Em. Don't forget that."

"I know," Emily huffed, putting the car into drive and pulling out of her parking space. "You know what the worst part of this whole thing is?" She then asked.

"What's that?" JJ answered, watching the brunette questionably.

"She's acting so much like me," Emily said shaking her head. "I mean she's me as a teen to a tee! I can't even be mad about it!"

Laughing JJ nodded her head in agreement. "Definitely just like her mother," the blonde said, glad to see the brunette smiling.

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"So there's been no progress with the kiddo?" Garcia asked as she sat on the edge of Morgan's desk that morning, facing Emily, who was immersed in a file.

"She hasn't been saying much," Emily replied, shaking her head. "She's just been staying up in her room, which I guess is what she should be doing considering she's grounded, but I would really prefer she would talk to us and just go back to being my happy, easy-going teenager."

"Aww she will Emster," Garcia was quick to assure her. "She's such a great kid, she'll get back to herself soon. I'm sure of it!"

"And in the meantime at least we know she's staying out of trouble," Morgan added. "Has there been any word from that boyfriend of hers?" He asked, unaware that the young couple had broken up, since Alex had yet to tell her mothers.

"Well Alex's not allowed to use her cell phone so no," Emily replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean that's the whole point of grounding. No friends of boyfriends or technology of any sort."

"I know that," Morgan sighed. "I just thought maybe he'd show up to apologize or something."

"Really?" Garcia chimed in before Emily could reply. "Alex lives with two FBI Agents…with guns," she said. "Would you show up if you were him?"

"Good point," Morgan replied just as Reid came back into the bullpen, coffee in hand.

"That doesn't look good," the genius said, pointing to JJ who was waddling as fast as she could towards Hotch's office. "We must have a case."

"Crap," Emily whispered, still having no idea where Alex could stay while they were away. "I really hope it's local," she said as both Hotch and JJ emerged from the Unit Chief's office.

"Team Conference room in five," Hotch announced, as he went to knock on Rossi's office door before letting himself in.

"Jen?" Emily called, her stomach dropping in disappointment as the blonde shook her head.

"New Jersey," the media liaison replied, as Emily made her way up the stairs so she could stand next to her.

"Great," the brunette sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "What are we going to do? I still haven't figured out where Alex can stay," she continued. "Do you think Garcia could take her?"

"I think Garcia's going to have her hands full on this one," JJ replied shaking her head, wishing she had better news. "What about your mother?"

"She's still in London," Emily shook her head. "She won't be back for another week at least. God," she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I could call my mom, but it would take her a while to get down here," JJ suggested with a shrug. "Or we could just have her stay with the Hastings. I mean we could call Veronica and lay out the rules."

"I don't want to make your mom come all the way down here," Emily replied. "And Veronica and Peter just aren't home enough to actually make sure Alex is home and following the rules," she sighed. "I don't know Jen. Maybe I can stay back?"

"What's wrong?" Hotch asked, interrupting the couple's conversation, having noticed the worried look on both of his Agent's face.

Turning towards Emily and seeing that the brunette was biting her lip JJ decided to save her girlfriend from having to explain. "It's Alex," the blonde answered. "She's still grounded so we can't leave her with the Hastings while we're gone," she explained. "We're just trying to figure out an alternative."

"Oh that's no problem, I'll call Haley," Hotch was quick to offer, pulling out his cell phone.

"What Hotch no," Emily objected, not wanting to impose on her boss' wife. "I can't ask Haley to do that."

"You're not asking, I am," Hotch replied, hitting Haley's speed dial. "We told you when Alex moved here that we were here to help. Trust me Haley won't mind, plus Alex can help her out with Jack. It'll be good for both of them," he said, putting the phone to his ear, already heading towards his office so he could talk to his wife. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll meet you in the conference room in a few," he said, closing his office door behind him.

"Well I guess that's taken care of," JJ said, turning towards Emily, who looked as if she wasn't sure what had just happened.

"Yeah," Emily nodded, silently hoping her daughter wouldn't give Haley Hotchner a hard time while they were away. "Apparently it is."

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"So what did your mom and JJ say when you told them about Logan?" Zoey asked as the four girls sat down at their regular lunch table that day. "I thought maybe they would have eased off your grounding a bit and we would have heard from you this weekend."

"Oh…no," Alex replied awkwardly, looking down at her sandwich. "I uh…I haven't told them."

"You didn't tell your mom?" Spencer exclaimed sounding surprised.

"No," Alex shook her head.

"Well why not?" Zoey questioned, all three of Alex's friends now watching her closely. "I mean you guys are so close. We thought for sure you'd talk about it with them."

"There's just nothing to talk about," Alex replied, continuing to pick at her meal even though eating was the last thing she felt like doing. "So Logan broke up with me. I told you guys I'm fine. It's not a big deal and I really didn't feel like spending the weekend discussing it, so I didn't tell them," she explained. "I'm grounded anyways so it's not like I'd be able to see him, so they won't even notice. I'll tell them eventually," she continued. "Plus mom will probably be thrilled about it…I mean she was pretty pissed about everything that happened."

"I'm sure your mom wouldn't be thrilled," Spencer assured her. "Whatever she feels about what happened, she wouldn't want you to be hurting."

"Yeah," Olivia was quick to agree. "And are you sure you're really okay Lex?" She then asked having seen how upset her friend was Friday afternoon when she and Zoey had eventually caught up with Alex and Spencer. "You were really upset on Friday. You know it's okay to be sad about it. You made a mistake. You didn't deserve that."

"I'm fine," Alex replied, trying to brush it off and still refusing to meet her friends' eyes. "Was I upset on Friday, yes, but I'm not going to keep crying about it," she explained, despite the fact that she had spent much of the last three nights crying about the breakup. "It is what it is. I'm perfectly fine."

Not fully believing their friend due to the sadness in the brunette's eyes, Spencer, Zoey and Olivia simply nodded, understanding that Alex was simply doing her best to hold herself together.

"You know we really need a girls night once you're un-grounded," Olivia suggested, breaking the silence. "We could go get our nails done and do some serious shopping or something."

"Yeah and we can go see that new movie you wanted to see Lex," Zoey added.

"Yeah sure," Alex nodded. "That actually sounds perfect," she said, looking up with a smile. "How long are you grounded for Spence?"

"Just until the end of the week," Spencer replied. "It's going to be weird not having you around at all this week," she then said. "Do you know what will happen if the team gets called away this week?"

"No idea," Alex shook her head. "I assume I'll end up with Garcia, or one of the Jareaus will have to come down, but I'm not really sure," she explained. "I guess we'll see if it comes up," she said, having no idea just how soon she would find out.

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Alex was in her last period class of the day with only ten minutes left when the classroom phone began to ring, interrupting her teacher who was in the middle of a long explanation, which most of the class had tuned out long ago. Having been doodling in her notebook, while thinking about telling her mother and JJ about Logan, even though she was still unwilling to talk about her nightmares, Alex hadn't even registered the sound. Lost in thought it took the brunette a moment to realize that most of the class was looking her way.

"Miss Campbell," her teacher called, for what obviously wasn't the first time; finally gaining Alex's attention as the young brunette looked her way. "That was Mrs. McKenzie. Your ride will be picking you up at the office today."

"Oh…uh okay," Alex nodded, feeling her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as the rest of the class continued to watch her. "Thank you."

Since class was almost over now, the teacher had assigned homework before dismissing the class just as the bell rang. Collecting her books, Alex left the class, quickly making her way through the halls towards her locker, slightly anxious to find out who would be picking her up, though still expecting Penelope.

"Hey could we go over a couple math questions on the bus?" Spencer asked her as soon as she made it to her locker; the taller brunette filling her backpack before throwing it over her shoulder. "I just want to make sure I'm doing the questions right."

"I'm not taking the bus," Alex replied. "The office called. Someone's here to pick me up and I'm not allowed to use the phone. We can go over them in the morning though?"

"Yeah sure," Spencer nodded as Alex finished packing her bag and shut her locker. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," Alex waved before heading in the direction of the main office. Looking around for Penelope, Alex was surprised when another familiar blonde turned her way, smiling as she adjusted the little boy on her hip. "Haley…hi," Alex greeted, feeling slightly awkward, having never spent any time alone with Hotch's wife. "Hi Jack," she added, giving the one year old's hand a small shake, receiving a big smile in reply. "You're my ride?"

"Yeah the team's headed to New Jersey and Aaron called and asked if I would mind if you stayed with me until they got back," Haley explained. "I'll bring you back to your house so you can get your things. Your mom said she'd call you as soon as she can."

"Oh okay," Alex nodded, giving the blonde a small smile, despite her discomfort. "Sounds good," she added, wishing she could just go home to see her mom.

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Alex liked Haley and Jack. She liked that Haley was nice, and didn't try to force small talk, and she liked that Jack found everything she did hilarious, and had the cutest giggle she had ever heard. Despite these things though, Alex couldn't help feeling uncomfortable, unsure of what Haley knew about her grounding, and not really knowing what to talk about when she was with her.

Because of this, Alex was glad when Haley allowed her to work on her homework up in the guest room, only calling her down when dinner was ready. While they ate they talked about school, and Alex had helped with the cleanup before explaining that she had more work to do and making her way back upstairs.

An hour later, as Alex was just finishing up the last of her math, there was a light knock on the door before Haley poked her head into the room, holding up a portable phone. "Alex, honey it's your mom," she explained.

"Oh thank you," Alex smiled politely, making her way over to the door and taking the phone. "Hi Mom," Alex greeted as she put the phone to her ear and Haley left to give her some privacy.

"Hi Sweetie," Emily's reply came through the phone, the sound of many voices in the background. "Sorry I'm still at the precinct, I just wanted to make sure you got settled in with Haley okay."

"I did," Alex replied, pausing awkwardly. "Everything's good. I mean I was a little surprised when she picked me up but it's good," she explained, doing her best to give her mother more than a two-word reply.

"Yeah well Hotch volunteered, and I guess Haley was pretty happy for the company," Emily answered. "I know you don't know her all that well, but I thought you might enjoy spending the time with Jack."

"Oh yeah, it's fine," Alex quickly assured her, hearing the hesitation in her mother's voice and suddenly feeling guilty for the way she had been treating her and JJ all weekend. "So uh…New Jersey huh?"

"It's a mess," Emily sighed. "I don't want to get into it, but it's going to be a long night."

"That doesn't sound great," Alex replied, feeling suddenly saddened by the fact that she would have to spend another unknown amount of days without her mother and JJ.

"Trust me it's not," Emily said, her voice muffling as she answered someone in the background, Alex straining her ears to hear. "Listen kiddo I don't have a ton of time, but everything went well with Dr. Sullivan this morning?"

"It was fine," Alex replied vaguely, not really wanting to discuss the appointment, where she had done her best to keep her nightmares out of the conversation.

"Good, you've got another appointment Thursday after school right? I told Haley I would have the car service bring you and she said she'd pick you up afterwards, if we're not back by then" she explained. "And you have musical auditions Wednesday right?"

"Yep," Alex confirmed.

"Okay well I really have to go, but JJ says she loves you, and we'll both call you tomorrow as soon as we can okay?" The older brunette said, really wishing she didn't have to hang up.

"Okay, tell JJ I love her too," Alex replied, trying, but failing to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Be safe, and I love you mom."

"Love you too babe," Emily replied, a smile in her voice. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon," Alex sighed, listening to the click of Emily hanging up as she flopped down on her bed for the week and hung up the phone she was using. "Miss you."


	6. Chapter 6

**So I feel like a jerk for taking so long to get this posted, but I just couldn't find time to write this past week! I promise I will make every effort I can to keep updating this story! Don't give up on me yet! **

**Enjoy! -J**

**Chapter 6**

Alex knew when she went to bed that night that she would have nightmares. She knew this because she missed her mom and JJ, and because she couldn't stop thinking about everything she was keeping from the two women. Knowing she would be forced to dream about things that scared her, the young brunette had a difficult time falling asleep; spending several hours tossing and turning before finally drifting off.

When the teen was eventually awoken by a nightmare, she was grateful for the fact that she didn't yell out; something, which she often did when at home. Having dreamt about Parrilla taking both her and Emily, Alex had a difficult time letting herself relax, spending the rest of the night clutching her pillow while glancing around the Hotchner guest bedroom to ensure that no one else was there.

Alex was feeling her lack of sleep the next morning, doing her best to remember that she was a guest, and therefore needed to be polite and not become annoyed or grumpy with Haley. And while the older woman hadn't asked many questions the night before, she had apparently decided to save them for that morning, beginning as she handed Alex a plate of pancakes.

"How'd you sleep?" Haley asked, pretending not to notice the bags under the fourteen-year-olds' eyes.

"Good," Alex replied, doing her best to smile as she picked up her fork. "I mean I don't sleep the greatest when I'm not in my own bed, but it was fine," she explained, knowing that her exhaustion was obvious on her face.

"Well hopefully the team won't be gone too long," Haley smiled, placing a bowl of cheerios in front of Jack before sitting down in front of her own plate of pancakes. "You usually stay with your friend Spencer when your mom's away right?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "She lives across the street. I guess I've gotten pretty used to sleeping there too since I'm usually there a couple nights a week."

"Understandable," Haley replied, pausing while she took a bite of her breakfast. "So Aaron didn't really tell me what happened," she eventually continued, finally asking the question Alex had been dreading. "What happened for you to get grounded? If you don't mind me asking that is."

"Oh uh…well I kind of broke the rules," Alex replied, immediately feeling her cheeks begin to flare. "I uh…I had Logan over when mom and JJ weren't home and they kind of caught us," she explained. "I mean we weren't doing anything…well we were kissing but nothing else happened. But he wasn't supposed to be there when they weren't home."

"Ah of course," Haley nodded in understanding. "I think we've all been there," she smiled, not wanting the teen to be embarrassed. "I mean I can definitely remember being grounded for similar reasons when I was a teen. This weekend must have been tough, not being able to spend any time with him."

"Oh…well not exactly," Alex replied, receiving a confused look from the blonde. "We kind of broke up. He…he broke up with me."

"Oh Alex I'm sorry," Haley was quick to apologize, reaching out and putting a hand over the teen's. "I had no idea. I mean no one mentioned anything. That must have been really hard."

"It's okay," Alex said, shaking her head. "But my uh…my moms don't know about the breakup. I haven't exactly told them yet," she said, looking down at her plate. "I mean I'll tell them eventually…I just…I wasn't ready to talk about it yet."

"Well that's okay," Haley nodded, suddenly understanding Alex's unusually quiet behaviour even more now. "I won't say anything," she assured her. "But you know if you need to talk at all I'm here."

"Thanks Haley," Alex replied with a small smile, unsure if she would take the woman up on that offer, but definitely appreciating it.

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"Are you okay?" JJ asked Emily that morning while the pair got ready for the day in their hotel room; watching as the brunette dropped her clothes on the floor for the third time.

"I'm fine," Emily sighed, picking up her blouse off the floor before pulling off her pajama top and putting on her bra. "I just didn't sleep all that well," she admitted, pulling on her red blouse and beginning to work on the buttons; fumbling slightly.

"I thought your conversation with Lex went well yesterday," JJ said, moving over to the brunette and immediately pushing her hands out of the way, beginning to button the blouse for her.

"It did I'm just…I don't know Jen," she sighed once again. "I just know there's something else going on and I'm worried, because I don't know how to get her to talk to me and I hate being away from her when things are like this," she explained. "I just…I want to fix it but I don't know how."

"I know baby," JJ replied, buttoning the last button before leaning forward to place a kiss against her girlfriend's neck. "Look don't hate me for suggesting this but maybe you should go home," she said. "I mean you're obviously struggling with the whole thing. Why don't you go home and talk to Alex. Try to make things right. Hotch will understand, and the team will manage without you this one time."

"I can't," Emily was quick to reply, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist, pulling her closer and resting her head against hers. "Don't get me wrong, I want to, but Hotch is getting enough trouble from Strauss without me running off in the middle of a case," she explained. "Plus I honestly think it will only make things worse with Alex if I just show up. She let me in a little more last night, but if I show up wanting to talk she'll probably just push me away again."

"Okay," JJ nodded, turning so she could place a kiss on the brunette's cheek. "But if things get harder promise me you'll at least consider going home," she said. "I know how hard it's going to be for you to stay focused on the case. I just don't want you to stress yourself out."

"I won't, I promise," Emily replied, leaning down to give her girlfriend a proper kiss. "We better finish getting ready. We don't want to keep the team waiting, they may start talking," she said, feeling the blonde smile against her lips as she kissed her again.

"Well we wouldn't want that," JJ laughed as she pulled away moving back to her suitcase across the room so they could both finish getting dressed. "Hey Em," she called as the brunette pulled off her pajama pants.

"Mmm hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too," Emily smiled, happy to let her worries go, even just for a little while.

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"Hey Lex do you want to practice our songs for tomorrow before lunch is over?" Zoey asked her friend from across the table, breaking the brunette from her daydreams. "We could give each other pointers and what not."

"I don't know Zo," Alex replied scrunching up her nose since she really didn't feel like singing. "I think it would be better if I just rest my voice till tomorrow," she said. "I'll come listen to you if you want though."

"Oh we can all go," Spencer suggested even though she currently had her nose in a textbook. "I wanna hear your song Zo."

"I need to stay here and finish this." Olivia said, looking up from the homework she was frantically trying to finish by the next period. "But what play are you guys doing this time? Am I doing backstage stuff again?" She added, looking towards Spencer who nodded, having signed them both up to help.

"It's Mary Poppins," Zoey replied. "Which I am super excited about. Lex is going to make an amazing Mary."

"We haven't even auditioned yet," Alex sighed. "You don't know that I'm going to get the lead."

"Oh please," Spencer scoffed, finally looking up from her book. "You're going to get it! There's no one better! Basically you just have to go up there, sing your song and it's yours."

"Spencer's right," Zoey agreed. "No one's even close to being as good as you. You'll get it for sure."

Not really knowing what to say Alex simply shrugged, knowing it was pointless to argue with her friends since they would just continue to insist that they were right. The last time Alex auditioned she was a little nervous but mostly she felt confident, knowing she was a good singer and okay with whatever part she would be given. But now that she had been the lead in the last play, people expected her to get this lead as well and it was making her anxious. The teen was having a hard enough time dealing with everything else going on in her life and she was beginning to think that the play may be more pressure than she could handle at this time.

"Hey listen I'm really not feeling well," Alex lied, suddenly not wanting to have to think about auditions the next day. "I'm sorry Zoey, but I think I'm going to go see the nurse. Maybe we can practice tomorrow sometime?"

"Yeah sure," Zoey nodded, looking slightly confused. "It's no problem. Feel better Lex."

"Thanks," Alex replied with a small smile, gathering up her lunch. "I'll see you guys later," she said as she stood, not waiting for a reply before heading out of the crowded cafeteria.

"Lex wait," Spencer called out when Alex was halfway down the hallway; the taller brunette practically running in order to catch up with her. "Hey are you okay?" She asked, looking concerned. "I mean I know you said you don't feel well but what else is going on? I mean…is there something else?"

"I'm fine Spence," Alex replied, picking at her nails. "I just think I'm getting a migraine. I think I'll just see if Haley can come get me. I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Okay," Spencer nodded, her hesitation obvious on her face. "Are you sure though? You just really haven't been acting like yourself Lex and don't take this the wrong way, but you look like crap…like you haven't been sleeping or something?"

"I…" Alex began, biting her lip in thought, knowing there was no point lying since her friend would know as soon as she did. "I've been having nightmares," she admitted quietly. "It makes it hard to sleep, but I'll be okay."

"Okay," Spencer nodded, knowing from the look on her best friend's face that she really didn't want to talk about it, but appreciating the fact that she had at least answered honestly. "If you need to talk about it I'm around okay? I know you can't call me or anything, but I'm here whenever you need me."

"I know Spence," Alex smiled, reaching out to give the other brunette's hand a squeeze. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay, feel better," Spencer replied, leaning in to give Alex a quick hug before letting her go, hoping her friend would get back to herself soon.

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"Thanks for picking me up," Alex said quietly, as she sat in the car next to Haley, the pair almost back at the Hotchner home; Jack asleep in the back seat. "I'm really sorry if I ruined your day."

"It's fine sweetheart," Haley quickly assured her. "You didn't ruin anything and it's not your fault you're not feeling well," she said. "We'll get you some aspirin when we get home and you can lay down. I know how hard migraines can be. Your best bet will be to sleep it off."

"Thanks," Alex replied with a small smile, resting her head against the window and falling silent.

It was only a few more minutes before they pulled up in front of Haley's house, Alex slowly grabbing her bag and exiting the car, waiting as Haley came around the car to lift Jack out of his car seat. Since her hands were full, Alex took the house key from the blonde, unlocking the front door and letting Haley in before her.

"I'm just going to lay Jack down," Haley whispered. "There's aspirin in the cabinet beside the fridge," she told her before making her way upstairs.

Though she had originally used having a headache as an excuse to avoid having to talk to her friends, the teen could feel her head beginning to throb, figuring she could probably use the medication. Grabbing the bottle of tablets, the young brunette went to collect a glass from a different cabinet, taking it over to the sink and filling it with water so she could take two pills.

"I'm just going to text your mom and let her know that you left school early," Haley called as she came down the stairs, having placed Jack in his crib. "I just want to make sure she knows."

"Okay," Alex nodded, placing the aspirin back in the cupboard. "I'm going to go lay down," she said, immediately heading for the staircase, not really feeling like talking to anyone.

Climbing the stairs and making her way towards the guest bedroom, Alex quickly changed out of her uniform, opting for pajamas since she intended to spend the rest of her day in bed. Grabbing her favourite teddy bear, which she had brought with her from home, the teen was just about to climb under the covers when there was a soft knock at the door.

"Lex, sweetie," Haley called as she opened the door just a crack. "Sorry hun, JJ's on the phone. She wants to talk to you."

"It's okay," Alex replied, prompting the blonde to open the door the rest of the way. "Thanks," the teen said, taking the phone from the blonde with a smile. "Hi JJ," she greeted as she put the phone to her ear, Haley leaving to give her some privacy.

"Hey kiddo," JJ's reply came through. "I heard you weren't feeling well. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just have a really bad headache," Alex explained, sitting on her bed cross-legged. "It was starting to make me feel nauseous so I went to the nurse. I didn't think I would really be able to focus in class so she let me call Haley."

"Did you take something?" JJ then asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah I took an aspirin a few minutes ago," Alex replied, picking at the blanket underneath her. "I was just going to lay down for a bit," she explained. "But I'm glad you called. Where's mom?"

"She's following a lead with Morgan," JJ said. "She called me when she got Haley's text and asked me to check in," she explained. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean everything else is going okay right? You're getting enough sleep?"

"Yeah I'm sleeping," Alex replied, hoping her hesitation wasn't too obvious in her voice. "May…maybe not as much as I should be, but I'm sleeping."

"Is there any reason why? Are you having nightmares?"

"I'm…" Alex began, unsure whether or not she should tell the truth. "I've been having some dreams," she eventually said, figuring she would at least be half honest. "They're not bad, they're just…strange I guess, so they've been keeping me up. I'm really okay though. It's just hard sleeping in someone else's house. I'm not used to it here."

"I'm sorry honey," JJ replied, sounding sad. "Hopefully we'll be home soon and you can get back to your own bed," she said. "You're sure you're okay though? I mean we can talk if you want, I've got some time."

"No, no I'm fine," Alex insisted, knowing talking would help, but resisting anyways. "I just really want to get some sleep."

"Okay love," JJ replied with a slight sigh. "Rest up baby and your mom and I will call you when we can," she said. "I love you."

"Love you too JJ," Alex replied, suddenly wishing she could spend her day curled up with her mothers. "Give mom a hug for me."

"I will," JJ said, wishing she could stay on the phone just a little longer. "Talk to you soon honey."

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_Opening her eyes Alex was surrounded by darkness, barely able to see her own hand in front of her face; beginning to shiver from both fear and the cold. Feeling slightly groggy, the teen tried to remember where she was, unable to come up with anything._

_Putting her hands on the ground, Alex began feeling the floor around her, searching for any clue as to where she was; finding only a cold, hard surface beneath her. Suddenly hearing a noise, the teen jumped in fright, a light filling the room as a door was opened across the room._

_"Oh good you're awake," Parrilla's eerie voice filled the room, sending another shiver down Alex's spine. "I thought perhaps you hit your head just a little too hard. Thought we'd have to start our fun without you."_

_"W-we?"_

_"Yes…we," Parrilla said, turning on a light to reveal Emily and JJ in the corner, both tied to chairs._

_"Mom! JJ!" Alex shouted, struggling to get to the two women, suddenly finding that she was chained to the floor. "No! Let me go! Let them go! Mom!"_

_Watching as the young brunette struggled to get to her mothers, Parrilla laughed evilly, moving towards Emily and JJ; knife in hand. "Sorry kiddo, I'm not going to do that," he sneered. "I've been waiting a long time to do this. And I really think I'm going to enjoy this," he said, lifting his knife, preparing to strike._

_"Mom! JJ! NO!"_

"Alex! Alex wake up," Haley yelled, frantically shaking the teen, trying to rouse her. "Honey it's just a dream."

"Mom! JJ!" Alex shouted once again, before shooting up in bed, her breathing panicked, as Haley grabbed her by the shoulder in an attempt to keep her calm.

"Lex you're okay, it was just a dream," Haley assured her, watching as the brunette searched the room as if she was trying to figure out where she was, her breathing beginning to slow down. "It was a nightmare honey. You're okay."

"A nightmare," Alex muttered, nodding her head. "Right it was a nightmare. I'm okay," she said, meeting Haley's eyes as she tried to hold back the tears that were so desperately trying to escape. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Haley said, brushing the teen's hair out of her face. "It's perfectly fine, but are you okay?"

"I'm okay now," Alex nodded, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was just a dream," Alex said, shaking her head. "I'm fine. Really," she insisted, seeing the disbelieving look on the blonde's face.

"Okay," Haley nodded. "But I could stay for a while if you want. Or I could get you some tea, or water. Anything you need."

"Oh no that's okay," Alex replied, hesitating a moment before sighing, realizing she really didn't want to be left alone just yet. "But uh….maybe you could…_could_ you stay? Just for a little?"

"You got it," Haley smiled, moving so she could sit back against the headboard as Alex curled up beside her, allowing a few tears to fall down her cheeks. "It's okay honey," Haley said, running a hand over the teen's head, hearing her sniff. "You're okay."

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It had taken a while for Alex to fall back asleep, Haley eventually slipping out of the bed and returning to her own room, hoping the young brunette would be okay on her own. It was late, and the blonde was exhausted, but she struggled to get back to sleep as she continued to worry about Alex.

The teen's shouts had been loud and frantic during her nightmare, and Haley had been convinced that someone was in the house as she ran down the hall, finding Alex thrashing around in bed, still yelling. While the blonde wasn't sure exactly what the nightmare had been about, she knew it must have been bad; suddenly understanding why Alex had seemed so unlike herself lately, obviously struggling to sleep.

Knowing she needed to do something about all of this, Haley was up early the next morning, deciding to give Alex a little extra time to sleep as she made her way downstairs to start a pot of coffee before Jack was up. Still worried about Alex, Haley grabbed her phone on the way to the coffeepot, hoping she wouldn't be waking anyone up as she dialed, before placing the object against her ear, waiting for a reply.

"Emily hi," Haley greeted when the brunette finally picked up. "We need to talk."


	7. Chapter 7

**Friends!**

**Thanks so much for being so patient with me in terms of updating! I work a ton so it's getting difficult, but I will do my best to give you an update at least once a week if I can!**

**I also know that you all are anxious for Alex to talk to her mothers, but I think that things have to get worse before they can get better, so bare with me! I have big plans for the next chapter so don't give up on me yet!**

**Thanks so much for reading! -J**

**Chapter 7**

"It wasn't that bad," Zoey assured Alex as soon as the brunette came off the stage after her audition that afternoon; Alex biting her lip as her eyes began to fill with tears. "You sounded great."

"I forgot the lyrics," Alex replied, holding back her tears of both embarrassment and disappointment. "I completely screwed it up."

"But you started off really strong and your voice is obviously amazing," Zoey continued in an attempt to make her friend feel better. "I bet Mrs. Greer didn't even notice. You'll still get the lead."

"Trust me she noticed," Alex said shaking her head as she ran her hands through her hair. "There's no way I'm getting the lead now. My voice completely cracked. I'll be lucky to be in the chorus."

"Lex…" Zoey began just as Spencer came rushing into the room, looking worried.

"Lex are you okay? What happened?" The taller brunette asked, having seen the whole audition from the back of the auditorium.

"I don't know," Alex sighed, wanting to cry even more now, but still fighting the tears. "I was fine and then all of a sudden I just went blank. I don't know what happened," she repeated.

But that wasn't really the truth. Because if she was being honest with herself, Alex did know what happened. After her nightmare the night before the teen had struggled to fall asleep; waking up the next morning feeling groggy and downright miserable. Haley had attempted to talk to her during breakfast, but Alex had basically brushed her off, asking if they could leave for school early, claiming that she had agreed to meet Zoey before classes started.

The rest of the day had been difficult for the young brunette as she spent most of the day fighting sleep, and struggled to keep her focus in all of her classes. By the time the last bell of the day rang, Alex was a ball of nerves; suddenly unable to even remember the song she had chosen. And as she stood on the stage with Mrs. Greer and several over students watching her, she had found herself simply unable to perform.

"Did something happen?" Spencer asked, both she and Zoey watching her carefully. "I mean you seemed a little out of it today. What's going on?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Alex replied rubbing her hands over her face.

"You know you say you're fine so much I'm not even sure you know what it means anymore," Spencer said, shaking her head. "We're your friends Alex. We know something's wrong so why won't you just talk to us?" She asked, now sounding frustrated. "Is it still the whole not sleeping thing?"

"What?" Alex exclaimed incredulously, looking towards Zoey and then back to Spencer, unable to believe that her friend would bring that up when she had told her she was having nightmares in confidence. "No it's…I…God I'm fine okay! I forgot the lyrics that's all, so just drop it!" She said, yelling now. "I'm not talking about this." She finished, bending over to grab her backpack before turning away from her friends.

"You can't just shut everyone out Alex," Spencer called despite the fact that the shorter brunette was already walking away. "It's going to eat you up inside. You can't just push everyone away."

"I have to go," Alex called, ignoring her friend. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said rather unemotionally, heading through the hallways without looking back, knowing Haley would be waiting for her out front.

Waiting in her car, parked in the same place she had dropped Alex off at that morning, Haley was turned around in her seat, talking to Jack in the back who was babbling along happily with his mother. Noticing Alex approaching the car, Haley initially smiled, her grin eventually falling when she took note of the sad look on the teen's face.

"Hey," Haley greeted when Alex opened the passenger's side door. "How'd it go?" She asked, not wanting to ask what was wrong right away, knowing Alex was likely to claim she was fine.

"Not great," Alex shrugged, fastening her seatbelt before turning towards the window, hoping the blonde would take the hint and leave her be.

"I bet you did a lot better than you think," Haley assured her as she pulled out of the school parking lot.

"I doubt it," Alex replied in a whisper that Haley just barely heard, the teen brushing away a tear discretely, keeping her attention focused on the window, unable to meet Haley's eye. Knowing how Alex could be, Haley decided to let it go for now; giving the teen a chance to collect herself during the drive since she was pretty certain she had seen her brush away a tear.

It wasn't until Haley had opened the gate to the Hotchner driveway that she finally spoke, startling Alex from her thoughts. "Hey look who's home," she said, pointing to the two cars in the driveway; Alex immediately recognizing one as her mother's. "I didn't think they'd be back today. Aaron never called."

Simply nodding Alex grabbed her bag and followed Haley out of the car, waiting as she collected Jack from the backseat before they both made their way towards the house, Alex still quiet. "I didn't know you would be home today," Haley called as they walked into the house, Hotch, Emily and JJ immediately coming around into the entryway, having been waiting for the trio to arrive.

"I thought I'd surprise you," Hotch smiled, placing a kiss on Haley's cheek before taking Jack from her arms.

"We also forgot that Alex would be out late today," Emily added, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around the teen. "Hey kid. We missed you."

"I missed you too," Alex replied quietly, hugging her mom tightly as she felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes, desperately trying to prevent herself from breaking down in front of Haley and Hotch. "Hi JJ," she then greeted, letting go of her mother in order to give the blonde a hug as well.

"God I'm glad to see you," JJ greeted, pulling the teen as close as her stomach would allow her. "How'd your audition go?"

"Fine," Alex shrugged, briefly shifting her gaze towards Haley who was watching her carefully, looking disapproving at Alex's lie.

"And how has everything gone here Haley?" Emily asked, sharing an understanding look with the blonde, both remembering their conversation that morning. "I hope this hasn't been too much trouble."

"It's been no trouble at all," Haley assured her with a smile. "Alex is welcome here anytime."

"Thank you," Emily smiled, grateful for Haley's help, and happy that the blonde had told her about what was going on with her daughter; now anxious to talk to Alex about it herself. "We should get out of your hair though. Lex why don't you got get your things," she suggested, Alex nodding before heading for the stairs so she could collect her things from the guest bedroom. "How has she been today?" Emily asked once the teen was out of earshot.

"Pretty much like this," Haley said gesturing towards the stairs. "She barely said a word this morning and she looked really upset when I picked her up," she explained. "I think something happened but she wouldn't tell me what. I didn't really want to push it too much."

"No I know," Emily nodded. "Trust me I know how she can be," she said. "Thanks so much for everything though. And thank you for calling me this morning."

"Of course," Haley replied. "Hopefully you guys can get this all sorted out."

"We definitely have a long talk ahead of us," JJ said rubbing her stomach. "Hopefully we can get to the bottom of all of this and get our Alex back."

"God I hope so," Emily sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I really hope so."

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When Haley had called Emily that morning to tell her about Alex's nightmares the brunette wasn't all that surprised, but she immediately felt terrible. She didn't know how she could have missed the signs. Alex had been irritable, quiet and distant for quite some time; exactly how she acted whenever she was struggling with sleep. The teen was scared, and Emily couldn't really blame her. Alex had been through more than anyone her age should ever have to face and it was obviously getting to her, but Emily just wished that the teen would come to her about it.

On the flight back to Virginia, JJ and Emily discussed Alex at great lengths, knowing they needed to talk to the teen and get her to open up; something, which they knew they wanted to do together. As much as Emily knew she needed to talk to her daughter she also knew that was going to be easier said then done because as she had pointed out to JJ many times before, Alex was just like her. Alex could be stubborn and guarded, and she hated admitting when she was feeling weak.

Since they didn't want to overwhelm Alex and throw questions at her right away, JJ and Emily had decided that they would enjoy dinner together before attempting to talk to the teen; having not anticipated her surly mood.

"So you guys are doing Mary Poppins right?" JJ asked Alex towards the end of dinner even though Alex had barely said a word all night.

"We are," Alex nodded, pushing her food around her plate with her fork, not having much of an appetite.

"And should we look forward to seeing you in the lead again?" Emily asked. "I mean personally I think you would make a great Mary Poppins."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Alex replied, not looking up from her plate.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked, scrunching her brow in confusion. "I thought you said your audition went well."

"I said it was fine," Alex corrected the blonde. "But it was…it didn't exactly go well," she admitted, still pushing her food around.

"What happened?" Emily asked, sounding concerned, reaching out to stop the teen from playing with her food. "Alex, what's wrong?"

"I messed up," Alex shrugged, finally looking up at the older brunette. "I guess I got nervous or something and I forgot my lyrics," she explained, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "It was completely obvious, and it was awful so I'm not going to be getting the lead," she finished, directing her eyes towards the ceiling in order to fight off the impending tears.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry," Emily said, reaching out and taking the teen's hand in hers.

"You know everyone has bad auditions," JJ added. "Mrs. Greer knows how amazing you are, I'm sure she'll take that into consideration."

"Yeah…maybe," Alex shrugged again, trying to act like it wasn't bothering her despite the fact that her eyes were watering.

"Was there any reason that you forgot your lyrics?" Emily asked carefully, trying to transition into the conversation she really wanted to have. "I mean has everything been okay? Are you feeling okay? Getting enough sleep?"

"I sleep," Alex replied vaguely, eyeing her mother wearily, suddenly wondering what she knew. "And I'm feeling fine. I mean I guess I've been a little off but I'm okay."

"Alex it's okay to admit if you're having trouble sleeping," JJ told the teen carefully. "You can tell us if you're having nightmares again. We completely understand."

"I'm not," Alex replied quickly looking up to find disbelieving looks on both her mothers' faces. "Why would you think….Haley," Alex suddenly realized. "She told you about last night." She stated once again letting her gaze fall towards her plate.

"Haley was concerned," Emily defended the blonde. "She thought we should know what was going on, but I don't understand why you didn't tell us. I mean Lex I've asked you more than once what was going on with you. We've asked you if there was anything you wanted to talk about and you just keep insisting that everything is fine," she said. "Everything obviously isn't fine honey. We need you to talk to us. Alex please talk to us."

"There's nothing to talk about," Alex argued shaking her head. "So I had a nightmare it's not a big deal. I apologized for waking Haley up. I'm not sure why she had to tell you."

"She told us because she was pretty sure that this was a recurring thing and we both agree," Emily replied, doing her best to remain calm and not get frustrated with the teen. "Honey you've been off since I went back to work. You've obviously been having nightmares since then and we missed the signs, and I'm truly sorry about that, but talk to us now. Don't shut us out," she said, unknowingly repeating Spencer's words from earlier that day.

"I don't know what you want me to talk about," Alex replied stubbornly. "So I'm having nightmares. And yes I've been having them for a while. But like I said I'm fine."

"Lex you're practically a zombie half the time and you're barely talking to us," JJ argued. "And look what happened today. You're obviously not fine sweetheart. The dreams are affecting you."

"Talking about them might help," Emily added.

"Yeah I know, isn't that what you pay Dr. Sullivan for?" Alex snapped, her eyes watering with frustrated tears.

Alex knew that her mothers were only trying to help, and deep down she knew they were right, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell them about her nightmares. She was scared, and she knew they knew that, but Alex was still harboring an irrational anger towards her mothers; unsure how they could leave her back home while they worked when there was a serial killer out there that could potentially come after her.

"And have you been talking to Dr. Sullivan about this?" Emily asked, willing to bet that if she called the older woman and asked her she wouldn't have heard anything about the dreams that were currently haunting her daughter's sleep.

"I…" Alex hesitated, revealing her lie before she even said it. "Yes."

"Alex," Emily said warningly.

"Oh my God why can't you just drop this?" Alex finally shouted, a single tear falling down her cheek. "I said I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it, so why can't you just let it go?"

"Honey we're just," JJ began, immediately cut off by the frustrated teen.

"No! I'm not talking about it," she shouted, pushing her chair back and standing up. "I don't want to and you can't make me," she continued, not caring how immature she sounded. "Just leave me alone," she yelled before running away from the table and up the stairs towards her room.

"Alex," Emily called, standing from her seat. "Alex come back here!" She yelled to no avail, sighing in frustration.

"Just give her a few minutes Em," JJ suggested, reaching out and placing her hand over the brunette's. "Let her calm down."

"A few minutes isn't going to help," Emily sighed, falling back into her chair, shaking her head. "I just don't know how things got so bad," she said sadly, prompting the blonde to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "How did I let it get so bad?"


	8. Chapter 8

**So I'm fairly confident about how each chapter is going to go from here on out, so I hope that means I will be able to get you updates more frequently. Really hope you'll enjoy where I'm going from here! **

**Thanks so much for reading! -J**

**Chapter 8**

"We should do something tomorrow night," Alex suggested to her friends the first Friday night after her grounding was finally over, spending the night at Olivia's house. "I haven't been anywhere but school and home in two weeks. I need to do something."

Since the night Emily and JJ had confronted Alex about her nightmares things had been slightly tense. Her mothers had originally continued to push her on the issue, eventually deciding to give her some space, while constantly reminding her that they were there for her. The couple had been forced to leave on a case once more since then, again leaving the teen with Haley whom also reminded Alex that she could talk to her about anything she wanted. Yet despite all these people willing to listen to her problems, Alex was still refusing to talk, and although she wouldn't admit it, it was definitely taking it's toll on the 14-year-old. Alex was constantly tired, her school work was starting to suffer and though she had only gotten the part of Mrs. Banks in the school musical, she knew she was doing a poor job with that as well. But the worst part for Alex was the relationships that were suffering, as she found herself unsure how to talk to either Emily or JJ, and her friendship with Spencer became strained as the taller brunette was constantly trying to get her to open up.

"I've got a date with Chad tomorrow night," Zoey replied, referring to the boy she had met in her art class.

"I've got a mandatory night out with my mom and Melissa tomorrow," Spencer said, not looking the least bit excited. "I'm not allowed to miss it for anything according to my mother," she explained bitterly before grabbing an oreo and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Liv?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Well this girl Kaley asked me to go to a party at her friend Tyler's house," Olivia replied. "They're both juniors, but Kaley's a family friend. You should come with me."

"To a party?" Spencer asked worriedly, already hating the idea especially considering her friend's behaviour the last two weeks.

"Yeah, I've been to a couple," Olivia admitted with a shrug. "It's always fun. A lot of kids from school go. They're mostly 11th and 12th graders but sometimes there's people from our class."

"Alright I'm in," Alex smiled; glad to have something to look forward to the next day, and not having to go home.

"You really think your parents are going to let you go to a party?" Zoey asked skeptically.

"They don't have to know," Alex replied, knowing with absolute certainty that her mother would never allow her to go to a party. "I'll just tell them I'm staying here again."

"My mom just thinks I'm hanging out with Kaley," Olivia told her. "By the time we get home she won't even notice so we'll be good to go."

"Awesome," Alex nodded, unable to miss the anxious look on Spencer's face, knowing exactly what was coming.

"Lex do you really think that's a good idea?" Spencer asked nervously, knowing the question would only irritate her friend; something, which she'd been doing a lot lately. "I mean you just got ungrounded. Why don't you guys just stay in and hang out?" She suggested. "I just really don't think it's a good idea."

"Well it's a good thing you're not coming then," Alex replied harshly, Zoey and Olivia both looking away uncomfortably, neither wanting to get involved in their friends' constant bickering. "I think I can make my own decisions Spencer, but thanks for the concern."

"Fine, whatever," Spencer said rolling her eyes. "Do what you want, but nothing good can come of lying to your parents…again," she said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Don't worry I won't," Alex replied stubbornly. "And trust me, we're not going to get caught. My moms won't even find out."

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"Em you need to relax," JJ sighed watching as the brunette lay on the opposite end of the couch, anxiously picking at her nails; nails, which were practically destroyed from the last week. "She's just at Olivia's. She's with the girls. Everything will be fine," she assured her, giving her a little nudge with her foot. "You can't keep her locked up forever."

"I know that," Emily replied biting her lip. "I just thought that she'd be talking to me by the time she was ungrounded, but that's still not happening," she sighed. "I feel like I have no idea what's going on with her and it was just so much easier when she was grounded because at least I knew where she was."

"I know, but you've got to trust her babe," JJ said, sitting up so she could see her girlfriend better. "I know that things have been a bit of a mess lately but you have to remember that she's a good kid Em," she continued. "Lex has made some mistakes lately, but she is still a good kid. It'll be okay."

"I want to believe that," Emily sighed. "Really I do, but…but she's just not herself," she explained. "She's pulling away and she's acting out and it scares me," the brunette admitted. "She's doing exactly what I did as a teen, and we all know how that ended."

"Okay first of all you turned out amazing so don't talk like that," JJ said, finally reaching out and taking the brunette's hand in order to stop the incessant picking. "And second of all Alex isn't you Em," she said carefully. "She isn't going to go out and do all the things you think she's going to do because her life is very different than yours was. You were basically on your own when you were a teenager," she said. "Your parents didn't pay you any attention and they didn't give you any indication that they were there for you. Alex knows we're here. She knows she can talk to us, even if she's choosing to ignore that fact right now."

"I know but…" Emily began to argue.

"But nothing," JJ interrupted. "She's a teenager, she's supposed to go through phases of hating us, but it's going to end, I really believe that," she continued. "She's going to come around and everything will go back to normal, so can you please just relax and be here with me?"

Realizing her girlfriend was right; Emily sat up too, sitting face to face with the blonde. "You're right, I'm sorry," she said giving JJ a kiss. "Is Garcia still coming over for girls' night tomorrow?"

"She wouldn't miss it for the world," JJ smiled. "I'm pretty sure if we get a case she'll go down there herself and hunt someone down. She's really looking forward to it."

"Well good," Emily laughed, knowing the blonde was telling the truth. "And what did you want to do tonight in this big, empty house, all on our own?" She asked suggestively.

"Oh well I had a few ideas," JJ replied with a grin.

"Oh yeah?" Emily said raising an eyebrow. "What kind of ideas?"

"Why don't you come upstairs and let me show you," JJ suggested, pulling the brunette in for a searing kiss.

"Lead the way beautiful," Emily said once JJ had pulled away; the blonde standing and pulling her up from the couch by the hand. "Lead the way."

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"You're absolutely sure you want to do this?" Olivia asked the next night as she and Alex walked towards her friend Kaley's house. "Because you know we could go back to my house and watch movies. Or we could go to your house and join your moms and Penelope for girls' night."

"No, no I want to do this," Alex replied, hoping her friend couldn't see her obvious nerves, knowing her mom would be furious if she found out the truth about where she was really spending her time that night.

"Really? Because you know Spencer had some pretty valid points yesterday," Olivia pointed out. "I mean you did just get ungrounded, and I really don't want you to get in trouble again."

"Liv you won't, it's fine," Alex insisted. "Spencer just worries too much," she said, flinching slightly at the bitterness in her voice.

Watching her friend closely Olivia considered her next question carefully, eventually deciding that she couldn't keep going on not knowing why her friends seemed to be fighting all the time lately. "What's going on with you two anyways?" She asked. "I mean things seem a little tense between you lately."

"I don't know," Alex shrugged. "She's just…she can be so irritating sometimes."

"She just cares about you," Olivia pointed out. "I mean she's worried. We're all a little worried to be honest."

"Well you don't need to be," Alex sighed. "Everything's fine. So I want to go to a party with you; we're teenagers we're supposed to do stuff like this. And sure I don't really want to be home right now either, but I'm pretty sure that's normal too."

"Okay you have a point," Olivia nodded as they turned a corner, getting closer to Kaley's house. "But _why _don't you want to be home right now? And be honest," she said, not wanting to hear her friend tell her she was fine for the millionth time, when she obviously wasn't.

"Honestly?" Alex asked, receiving a nod from the blonde in reply. "I guess I'm just…mad," she admitted, unable to find a better explanation.

"At your moms?"

"At a lot of things," Alex shrugged, still not willing to share everything yet; Olivia nodding in understanding. "Can I ask you something?" She then asked.

"Sure," Olivia replied, still nodding.

"You said you've been going to these parties lately whenever we're all busy, but why?" Alex asked curiously, having been thinking about this since the previous night when her blonde friend had confessed that she had attended quite a few parties and had been drinking without her friends.

"I don't know," Olivia shrugged. "I guess because no one really notices," she admitted quietly; Alex immediately understanding that the blonde was referring to her parents.

Feeling bad for her friend, and suddenly guilty about the fact that she had two parents who were constantly worried about her and she was currently ignoring, Alex placed an arm around her friend, offering Olivia the only comfort she could at the moment. "I notice you Liv."

"Thanks Lex," Olivia smiled. "And it's okay to be mad you know. I mean I don't really know what's going on but you're allowed to be mad," she said, pulling her friend tight for a brief moment. "Now let's go have some fun," she smiled, ready for a night that would help them both forget their problems.

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"Oh my goodness this wine is DEVINE!" Garcia exclaimed, plopping down on the sofa across from JJ and Emily, a smile on her face. "Emster I don't know how you could pass this up."

"Pen I told you I'm not drinking until Jen can," Emily replied. "But feel free to enjoy as much of that as you like, we've got plenty of room for you to stay the night if you indulge a little too much," she said, laughing as Garcia immediately held out her glass for the brunette to top up.

"Em you know you really don't have to not drink just because I'm can't," JJ said, stretching out her legs and resting them on the table in front of her; a bag of cheetos balanced on her belly.

"I know that, but I want to," Emily smiled, placing the bottle of wine back on the table. "Plus if I don't have any that leaves more for Pen, and I'm pretty sure she's happy about that."

"Thrilled actually," Garcia smiled, taking a long sip of her drink. "So are you two getting excited about little baby Jareau or what? Because I cannot wait to spoil the little man rotten."

"I guess you could say I'm a little excited," Emily replied, barely able to keep her face straight.

"A little?" JJ repeated with an eyebrow raised. "Emily has taken to have long conversations with my stomach every morning, telling the baby all about our family and how he will have everything he could ever need," she laughed. "Plus she has a countdown to my due date in her planner."

"Okay so maybe I'm a lot excited," Emily shrugged, not the least bit embarrassed.

"Aww Emster I knew you were a big old softy!" Garcia practically squealed. "Wait till I tell Derek!"

"Don't even think about it," Emily replied warningly. "You are not allowed to give that man anymore ammo, he already teases me enough as it is."

"I make no promises," Garcia replied, a giddy smile on her face, before suddenly jumping up from her seat, practically running over to the bookcase where the couple kept their DVDs. "Alright girlies time to pick a movie, and since girls' night was my idea I get to choose."

"Of course you do," JJ laughed, sharing a look with Emily who knew better than to argue with the technical analyst.

"Just nothing too cheesy Pen," Emily said.

"And nothing too sci-fi," JJ added with a grin; Emily sticking her tongue out in reply.

"So we'll just rule out all of Emily's movies then," Garcia said, browsing through the titles, looking like she was looking for something specific. "Oh here it is!" She said, finding the DVD she was looking for and holding it up with a big smile.

"Perfect choice!" JJ smiled, when she saw that the other blonde had chosen Sixteen Candles.

"I agree," Emily said. "And just so you know that one's mine," she added just as her cell phone began to ring.

"Hey no phones during girls' night," Garcia called as she placed the DVD into the player.

"Sorry Pen," Emily replied, checking her caller I.D and seeing her daughter's name on the screen. "It's Lex. I need to take it," she said, accepting the call and placing the phone to her ear. "Lex?"

"Uh…um no actually it's Logan," came the reply from the other end of the phone, Emily immediately sitting up in worry since she thought her daughter was currently at Olivia's house.

"Logan?" Emily repeated getting the attention of both the blondes in the room with her. "What's going on? Why do you have Alex's phone?"

"Well um…we're…" Logan stuttered nervously, before letting out a long sigh. "Look we're at a party and I think that maybe you should pick Alex up," he finally said.

"A par…what's the address?" Emily asked, biting her lip as she tried her best to remain calm.

"82 Willow Lane," Logan replied.

"I'll be there in five minutes, just wait out front," Emily said before hanging up, immediately getting up from the couch and heading for the door.

"Em what's going on?" JJ asked as both she and Garcia followed the brunette towards the entryway.

"Alex is at a party with Logan," Emily replied, pulling on her shoes. "All he said was that I should pick Alex up. He didn't say why, but I have a pretty good guess," she said, her irritation clear in her voice.

"Well I'll go with you," JJ quickly suggested.

"No Jayje, you stay here and put your feet up," Garcia intervened. "You need rest. I'll go with Em."

"Okay but call me as soon as you know something," JJ agreed reluctantly as Garcia grabbed her coat and shoes.

"We will," Emily nodded before leading Garcia out the door. "We'll be back as soon as we can," she called as they both headed for the brunette's car as fast as they could.

Knowing how upset her friend was at this time, Garcia remained quiet during the drive, simply sitting back as the brunette navigated quickly through the streets, seeming to know her way. With Emily's perfect navigation and panicked speeding they made the drive in just under 5 minutes, Emily slowing down and searching for her daughter.

"There," Garcia said, pointing out a couple of teenagers standing at the end of a driveway, one holding the other up. "Oh God."

Pulling the car over and quickly putting it in park, both women got out of the car, making their way over to the young pair as fast as they could, Emily immediately moving to grab Alex since Logan looked like he was struggling to hold up the stumbling girl. "She's drunk," Emily pointed out unnecessarily, as she wrapped her arm around her daughter in order to hold her up.

"Mommy?" Alex practically slurred.

"Actually I'd say she's completely wasted," Logan said as he handed his ex off to her mother, not realizing how angry these words would make the older brunette.

"What the hell were you two thinking?" Emily asked, glaring at the teenage boy. "Alex is supposed to be at Olivia's. Why is she here with you? And what were you guys thinking drinking?"

"Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute," Logan said, putting up his hands in defense. "I'm not here with Alex. I got here 10 minutes ago and found her wandering around like this," he explained, nodding his head towards the young brunette. "Alex and I broke up two weeks ago," he said, not missing the look of surprise on Emily's face. "As far as I know she came here with Olivia."

"Where's Olivia?" Emily asked, doing her best to control her anger.

"Still inside I guess," Logan shrugged.

"Can you take me to her?" Emily then asked, refusing to leave the young blonde behind, Logan nodding his reply. "Alright, Pen can you get her in the car," she said passing Alex off to her friend. "Text Jen and let her know what's going on. I'll be as fast as I can."

"You got it," Garcia nodded. "Come on Lexi let's get you in the car," she said, practically dragging the young brunette towards the car; Alex simply groaning in response.

Knowing Alex was in good hands, Emily followed Logan up the long driveway towards the house that she didn't recognize, anxious to find her daughter's friend, feeling both worried and mad.

"She didn't tell you we broke up did she?" Logan asked, turning towards Emily when they were standing in front of the front door.

"No she didn't," Emily said shaking her head.

"I'm worried about her," Logan admitted.

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "Me too," she said as Logan turned around and opened the door, leading the older woman through the large group of teens scattered throughout the house, both searching for Alex's blonde friend.

"There she is," Logan finally said, Emily following the direction he was pointing to find Olivia sitting atop some boy's lap, a red cup in her hand.

Easily able to tell that the teen was drunk, although much less so then her daughter, Emily felt an immediately sense of anger rush through her; practically stomping her feet as she made her way over to the blonde and tapping her on the shoulder. Expecting one of her friends, Olivia turned her head with a smile on her face, a smile, which fell as soon as she saw who stood there waiting for her.

"We're leaving," Emily said sternly. "Now."

"Yes ma'am," Olivia replied straight away, placing her cup on the nearby table before walking past Emily, dropping her head in shame as she walked through the house with Emily following close behind her.

Knowing she was too angry to speak still, Emily simply followed the blonde all the way outside and down the driveway, Olivia stopping beside Emily's car, the brunette simply walking past her and opening the front passenger door since Garcia was sitting in the back with Alex.

"Get in," Emily said, waiting until the blonde was inside before closing the door and making her way around the vehicle; taking a deep breath before getting in herself. "How is she?" She asked, turning towards Garcia who was stroking through Alex's hair; the teen's head resting on her shoulder.

"She's passed out," Garcia replied. "She basically just mumbled a few things that made no sense and then fell asleep," she explained, Emily nodding as she turned back around, breathing deeply as she started the car back up.

"Miss Prentiss, I'm really sorry," Olivia said, sounding scared as she looked down at her lap, not wanting to meet the older woman's eyes.

"How much did she drink?" Emily asked.

"I don't really know," Olivia replied, looking up carefully. "I know she had a beer when we first got here, and I think she may have done a shot, but we kind of lost track of each other after that," she explained. "She was hanging out with some kids from the drama club. I told her not to drink too much though."

"And what about you? How much were you drinking?"

"I had a couple beers," Olivia said, sounding ashamed. "Are you going to take me home?" She then asked. "Because uh…I uh don't really think my mom will be in the best shape to deal with me," she said, knowing her mother tended to indulge in her own drinking most weekends.

Understanding what the blonde meant, Emily bit her lip. "You can stay with us tonight," Emily said, wanting to be able to talk to Olivia's mother. "But tomorrow I'm taking you home and we're going to talk to your mom. Understand?"

"I understand," Olivia nodded, looking serious.

"And tomorrow we're all going to have a nice, big talk about all of this," Emily added, looking in the review mirror at Alex even though the brunette was still passed out. "A very big talk."


	9. Chapter 9

**Still powering through this story as much as I can between working and working and sleeping! Hope you guys will like this chapter! I promise that things will get better soon! Don't give up on me yet!**

**Thanks for reading- J**

**Chapter 9**

By the time they had returned home Alex had woken up, mumbling rather incoherently as Emily and Garcia practically carried her into the house, with Olivia following close behind. Though she had been warned about what was coming, JJ had been shocked to see the state Alex was in, worried as she volunteered to get Olivia set up in the guest room. Garcia had helped Emily get Alex upstairs and into her bathroom before deciding to call it a night since her friends obviously had their hands full. Knowing Alex was about 10 minutes from throwing up all over the place Emily had left the teen on the bathroom floor, going into her daughter's room and grabbing a pair of pajamas to help her change into.

It had been a long night, as Alex had spent nearly an hour throwing up while Emily held her hair back; JJ poking her head in to check how they were doing before quickly having to leave, unable to watch the teen getting sick as it made her feel queasy herself. By the time Emily had gotten Alex into bed it was late, and the older brunette was reluctant to leave her daughter alone; spending over an hour more sitting on the edge of the teen's bed just watching her sleep. Emily still wasn't sure how things had gotten so bad with her daughter, but she knew she needed to fix it soon before Alex did something even worse and got herself hurt.

Filled with thoughts of what could have happened if Logan hadn't found Alex and called her, Emily struggled to fall asleep when she finally returned to her own room; lying behind JJ and stroking the blonde's hair while she lay awake. Morning came quickly and before she knew it Emily was sitting on her bed the next morning, dreading the conversation she knew she had to have.

"Did you sleep at all?" JJ asked, coming out of the bathroom to find the brunette staring off into space, looking exhausted.

"Honestly I'm not even sure," Emily admitted, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "God it's such a mess. I just keep thinking about all the things that could have happened and it scares the crap out of me. I just don't know what she was thinking," she said. "I mean I am so angry with her, but I'm still so worried, I just don't even know what to do."

"I know babe," JJ said, sitting down next to her girlfriend and placing a hand on her knee. "Trust me I'm right there with you," she continued. "I was so sure that we could trust her, I just can't believe she lied to us again," she said shaking her head. "But she's lost Em. She's scared and obviously emotional. We have to get to the bottom of all of this."

"Yes we do," Emily agreed, taking JJ's hand in hers. "And we need to do it soon. I'm going to wake them both and get Olivia home so we can sit Alex down and talk about all this. We'll have to figure out an appropriate punishment, and try to push her to open up, but I don't think it's going to be pretty."

"Probably not," JJ said, leaning over and kissing the side of the brunette's head. "But we'll get through it. We always do."

"You got that right," Emily said, giving the blonde another kiss before standing up with a sigh. "Why don't you get a shower. I should be back in about half an hour from Olivia's. I'll get Alex some Advil, and tell her to wait for us downstairs."

"Sounds good," JJ nodded. "Now get moving gorgeous, we will be waiting for you when you get home."

Giving JJ one last kiss Emily quickly ran downstairs grabbing 2 bottles of water and the Advil before returning upstairs, stopping first at her guest bedroom, waking Olivia and giving her some pain pills before telling her they were leaving in 10 minutes. Leaving the young blonde to get herself ready to go, Emily made her way to Alex's room, finding the brunette sprawled out across her bed, obviously in a deep sleep. For a moment Emily had forgotten her anger and disappointment, smiling slightly at the sight in front of her before she remembered just why her daughter was in such a deep sleep; remembering the hour they spent on the bathroom floor the night before.

"Alex, wake up," Emily called loudly, walking over to the teen's bed and giving her a shake. "Come on time to get up," she said, reminding herself that Alex deserved the suffering she was going to be experiencing since she had chosen to drink.

"Oh God," Alex groaned, having been startled by her mother's wake-up call; obviously sitting up too fast as she grabbed her head as dizziness and pain overwhelmed her. "What? What's going on?"

"You need to get up," Emily said unemotionally. "I'm taking Olivia home and then we're going to talk. I expect you to be waiting for me downstairs when I get back."

"Can't it wait till later?" The teen asked, not realizing how angry this would make her mother, as she flopped back down onto her pillow with a groan. "God I feel awful."

"Well you have no one to blame but yourself for that," Emily replied harshly. "Maybe you'll remember this next time you decide to drink until you can barely stand," she said. "Now I will be back in an hour and you better be dressed and downstairs with JJ," said finished, placing the water and Advil on the bedside table. "Get moving," she called as she left the room, leaving no room for argument and feeling pretty confident that her daughter would listen. Making her way into the hallway the older brunette found Olivia waiting for her, standing near the stairs with her head down, looking properly ashamed. "Let's go," Emily said as she walked past the teen, hearing the blonde follow her down the stairs and out the front door towards her car.

It wasn't until they were both in the vehicle that Olivia finally turned towards her friend's mother. "Emily I really am sorry about last night," she said, her eyes glossy with tears. "This is all my fault. I never should have brought Alex with me and I never should have let her wander off on her own. I am so incredibly sorry and I'll understand if you don't want Alex hanging out with me anymore," she said as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Olivia what's going on at home?" Emily asked, not yet starting the car as she turned towards the blonde with concern written all over her face.

"My mom she…she's been drinking," Olivia admitted sadly. "Ever since my dad left. At first it was just a couple drinks after work, but it's gotten to be more and more," she explained. "It's the worst on the weekends."

"So you've been going out with your older friends so you don't have to be home?" Emily asked.

"Friday night's are great because I'm always at one of the girls' houses, and when our sleepover is at my house my mom will go out," Olivia explained. "But Lex, Spencer and Zoey always have things going on Saturday nights. I haven't told any of them what's been going on and I hate being home when my mom's drunk…she's always so sad," she said, wiping away another tear. "So I started hanging out with Kaley and she started taking me to a bunch of parties. I don't drink a lot just…enough."

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Emily said reaching out and taking the blonde's hand in hers, understanding how difficult things must have been for the teen. "I know that's got to be a lot to deal with. I know it's not easy," she said. "But honey drinking and partying…it's really not the answer."

"I know," Olivia nodded sadly. "I really didn't mean to get Alex wrapped up in all this mess you know."

"I know Liv," Emily replied, squeezing her hand. "And it's really not your fault. Alex is…going through some things and she was going to find a way to get herself into trouble with or without you," she said. "I don't blame you at all Liv, but I think you really need to find a better way to spend your Saturday nights," she continued. "Alex is going to be grounded for a while, so she won't be allowed out and she won't be allowed visitors, but how about we make an exception when you need somewhere to go?" She suggested. "If you need out of the house, you call me and I'll come get you. You can stay with us whenever you want. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Olivia nodded tearfully, grateful for the hug that Emily immediately pulled her into. "Are you still going to tell my mom?"

"I'm afraid I have to," Emily said, pulling away and giving the blonde a small smile. "I think she needs to know, and who knows, maybe it will help things."

"Yeah," Olivia shrugged. "Maybe."

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Knowing Emily was serious when she said she needed to be downstairs by the time the older brunette returned home, Alex dragged herself out of bed a half hour after her mother left the room. Taking two aspirins, the teen pulled on a sweatshirt and ran her fingers through her hair before slowly making her way out of her bedroom and down the stairs, barely able to lift her feet from exhaustion. Since she really wasn't in the mood for talking the teen hoped that JJ was still upstairs getting ready, immediately disappointed when she turned into the family room to find the blonde sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine. Holding in her groan, Alex flopped down onto the opposite couch, desperately trying to avoid JJ's eyes.

"There's muffins in the kitchen," JJ said, not looking up from her magazine. "It would probably be a good idea to eat something."

"I don't think I can," Alex replied, her stomach feeling like it would likely revolt if she tried to eat anything. "Maybe later."

"Okay," JJ nodded, flicking the page of the magazine rather harshly, watching out of the corner of her eye as Alex rubbed her forehead with a grimace. "Headache?"

"Yes," Alex groaned. "Worse than I've ever had before," she said, dropping her head in her hands, missing the way JJ was shaking her head disappointedly at her.

"Yeah well that will happen," JJ said her voice sharp enough that Alex looked up in surprise. "What were you thinking Alex?" She asked, knowing she should probably wait for Emily to talk to the teen, but unable to hold back as she shut her magazine and looked at the young brunette expectantly.

"I…well…" Alex stuttered, thrown off by the blonde's clear anger, having not expected it.

"I'm just so disappointed in you," JJ said, shaking her head. "I just can't even believe it. I trusted you. I stuck up for you when your mom was worried," she continued. "Your mom was so freaked out about you being out and I just kept telling her that you would be fine; that you wouldn't do anything like this again. That you wouldn't lie to us again, but apparently I couldn't have been more wrong."

"I was just trying to have some fun," Alex replied, feeling suddenly defensive, sitting up straight and trying to control her breathing.

"You want to have fun? Go to the movies, go shopping, play a board game or something," JJ said. "You're 14 years old. You're too young to be drinking."

"I don't have to listen to this," Alex replied, shaking her head, knowing that the blonde was right, but not wanting to hear it.

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't," Alex shouted, standing up angrily, not hearing the front door open behind her. "You're not my mom!"

"Excuse me?" Emily called from the entryway, slamming the front door behind her, immediately registering the hurt look on JJ's face; looking like she had just been slapped. "Sit down right now," the brunette ordered firmly, coming around and sitting next to her girlfriend as Alex sat back down, looking stubborn as she refused to look up at JJ. "I've had just about enough Alexandra. This has been going on for way too long and it's completely out of control," she said. "I want to know what is going on with you, and I want to know right now."

"There's noth…" Alex began before getting cut off.

"Don't even try to tell me that it's nothing," Emily interrupted, her voice eerily calm. "You're lying, you hardly speak to either one of us, you don't even tell us that you broke up with your boyfriend, and now you're drinking," she said, looking quickly to JJ who still looked rather sad, obviously choosing to stay out of the rest of the conversation. "Alex what happened?" She asked, her voice softening slightly. "What's going on with you?"

"I…I don't want to talk about this," Alex said, her eyes watering despite her best efforts to control her emotions. "It doesn't even matter, it's not even going to make any difference."

"Yes honey it will," Emily sighed. "The nightmares aren't going to stop until you face them," she said watching the teen look away, her walls still up. "This anger you're feeling isn't going to go away until you let it go Lex. You need to talk."

"Why do you care?" Alex demanded angrily, determined to keep pushing her mother away.

"Alex…"

"No, you're never even here anyways," the teen interrupted. "I don't get why you're trying to push this. I told you before I don't want to talk," she said, shouting now as several tears slipped down her cheeks. "Why can't you just leave it alone? Just give me my punishment and let me go upstairs because I'm not going to talk to you."

"One month," Emily sighed, frustrated, but knowing she wasn't going to get through to the teen until she had some time to cool down. "Same rules as last time."

"Great," Alex replied sarcastically, wiping away the tears that refused to stop falling. "Can I go upstairs now?" She asked, looking at the floor.

"Yes, go," Emily relented, understanding that if Alex refused to talk there was no arguing with her, as the teen was just as stubborn as her.

Having the permission she needed Alex stood from her seat, slowly leaving the room and going up there stairs, not looking back at the disappointed looks on Emily and JJ's faces.

"Jen," Emily said, turning towards the blonde who still looked heartbroken. "She's just mad. She didn't mean it."

"I know, it's fine," JJ replied quietly, obviously bothered. "I'm just…I think I'm going to lie down for a bit," she said getting up from the couch.

"Jen," Emily said, grabbing her girlfriend's hand.

"It's fine," JJ repeated, attempting a smile that didn't even come close to reaching her eyes. "I just need to lie down."

"Okay," Emily nodded, letting go of the blonde's hand and watching as she headed for the stairs; waiting until she was out of view before dropping her head into her hands, suddenly feeling completely defeated.

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The rest of Emily's Sunday had been a quiet one; her house filled with a rather tense silence as both Alex and JJ remained holed up in their rooms, one out of anger and stubbornness, and the other trying to hide her sadness and hurt. Emily knew they all needed a chance to cool down; a chance to let their anger ebb a little, but the silence began to drive her crazy as she sat, searching for a way to make things better; to put everything back together and return it to the way it was.

When the older brunette went to bed that night, it was with the knowledge that she would get very little sleep, simply lying in bed with her thoughts while JJ feigned sleep beside her until the blonde's exhaustion took over and she fell asleep. Emily waited until 5am before she finally just decided to get out of bed, going to shower and get herself ready for work so she could have a chance to talk to Alex before everyone had to leave the house.

It was nearly an hour later when the brunette walked out of her en-suite, her attempts to remain quiet pointless as she found JJ sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her stomach. "I didn't mean to wake you," Emily said as she dropped her pajamas and towels into the laundry hamper.

"You didn't," JJ replied with a small smile. "It was the little guy kicking at my bladder that woke me," she explained. "Practically had to run down the hall before I had an accident," she said with a small laugh; Emily chuckling as she sat down beside the blonde, placing a light kiss against her temple. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Thought I'd try to talk to Alex before school," Emily explained. "Figured we've all had enough time to cool down by now and maybe we could actually talk now that there's a little less anger. I can wait till you've finished getting ready."

"I think maybe you should take this one on your own," JJ suggested quietly, her eyes downcast. "Might be better if it's just the two of you."

"Jen," Emily said, reaching out for the blonde's hand. "She didn't mean what she said yesterday. She's angry and defensive and she just wanted to hurt you," she continued. "She loves you so much."

"I know, I'm fine," JJ replied. "Really I am, I just think it'll be easier to get her to open up if we're not both there," she said, Emily easily able to detect her lie, seeing the hurt from yesterday still present in her eyes.

"Okay," Emily nodded. "I'll take this one, but we all do need to talk at some point," she said, JJ nodding her agreement. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," JJ smiled, watching as the brunette left the room, once again rubbing her stomach before standing up; on her way to the master-bath when she heard Emily coming back down the hall.

"She's gone," Emily said in panic, standing in the bedroom doorway.

"What?"

"She's not here," Emily repeated, her eyes wide and worried. "She's gone."

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**PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I PROMISE THINGS WILL TURN AROUND!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Well here it is my friends, the resolution though I still have one more chapter planned for this story before I move on to my 10****th**** story (big HAPPY plans for that story). I really hope that you all will be happy with how this turns out. I'm not sure how realistic some of the events in this chapter are…but it's a story so just let me have them! **

**Thanks so much for reading!**

**Will post the last chapter hopefully within the next week!**

**-J**

**Chapter 10**

"What? What do you mean?" JJ asked, feeling her stomach immediately drop in dread.

"I mean she's not here," Emily repeated frantically, moving around the room searching for her cell phone. "Her bed is made, her bag is gone and so is that teddy bear she loves," she explained, finally finding her phone, hitting Alex's speed dial.

"Maybe she just snuck off to one of the girls' houses or something," JJ said, following as Emily left the room, practically running down the stairs.

"Alex it's me," Emily began when the teen's voicemail picked up. "Honey I need to know where you are. I know things didn't go well yesterday, but sweetie please call me back. I just need to know that you're okay," she said, hanging up as she searched through one of the kitchen drawers. "The emergency credit card is gone," she said, turning to JJ with tears in her eyes.

"Garcia," JJ said, Emily nodding as she quickly hit the technical analyst's speed dial. "She'll be able to track it."

"It's only 6 o'clock," Garcia whined as way of greeting, obviously still in bed, trying to sleep as late as she could.

"Garcia I need you to track my emergency credit card," Emily asked, ignoring the blonde's groan.

"Emily what are you…why…"

"Alex is missing," Emily told the blonde, immediately hearing Garcia getting up, obviously moving around so she could get to her computer.

"I'm on it," Garcia said, sounding very much awake. "I just need two seconds," she said, the sound of her typing coming over the phone. "Okay the last time it was used was a little over an hour ago at…oh…oh no…"

"Garcia?" Emily questioned, the panic in her voice causing JJ to move closer, trying to hear, her friend.

"It was used at the airport," Garcia revealed. "She bought a ticket for a flight to…."

"Chicago?" Emily guessed, Garcia humming her confirmation. "Has the flight left yet?"

"20 minutes ago," Garcia replied dejectedly.

"Pen I need you to get me on the next flight," Emily said, glad she was already ready to go for the day. "I don't care how soon it is, I just need to get there now," she said, doing her best to ignore the fear that was causing her stomach to feel like it was about to revolt. "Jen are you…"

"No, no you go," the blonde denied quickly, knowing the brunette needed to get out of the house fast, afraid that her pregnancy would only slow them down; while also feeling like she needed to let Emily handle Alex on her own. "I'll be here waiting. Text me as soon as you know anything."

"Okay…right," Emily nodded. "Garcia do you have something?"

"Your flight leaves in an hour," Garcia said. "Find our girl and keep us updated," she said. "And don't worry about Jayje, I've got her," she assured her, having heard about the incident from the day before from the blonde.

"Thanks Garcia, I owe you," Emily replied, before hanging up, quickly running down the hall to get her passport before going to the hall closet to grab her purse, not having time to grab anything else. "I have a pretty good idea where she'll be, but I'll call you as soon as I find her," she said, pulling on her shoes.

"Okay," JJ nodded, looking worried as she followed the brunette to the door. "Be safe. I love you."

"Love you too," Emily said, before rushing out the door, hoping with everything she had that she would find her daughter and fast.

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Emily wasn't sure how she was going to make it through the flight to Chicago, feeling sick to her stomach as she repeatedly called Alex's cell phone, hoping that the teen would pick up at some point. Her knee bounced up and down nervously through the entire flight; grateful that Garcia had thought to get her a first-class ticket so she wasn't disturbing anyone with her constant shaking.

When the flight landed, the brunette practically ran through the airport, making her way outside to find a cab, having only one guess as to where Alex would go in the large city. She wasn't really sure what she would do if she was wrong, figuring it was possible that Alex went to her old house or Rachel's, but feeling confident that her daughter wouldn't want to be around anyone right now.

As the cab pulled up to the cemetery Emily quickly threw some cash towards the driver, telling him to keep the change as she quickly exited the car, running to where she knew Meredith and Matthew Campbell were buried; her heart beating fast. It wasn't until the headstones came into view; when she could see a young girl with dark hair sitting in the grass that Emily finally felt like she could breathe; slowing down to a walk even though she wanted nothing more than to scoop her daughter up into her arms.

She could tell the teen was crying before she was even close enough to hear her; seeing her thin frame shaking, as she kept her face hidden in her arms. Though she was trying to be quiet as she approached, Emily could see it the moment the teen sensed her presence; the younger brunette's back straightening out as she lifted her head from her arms.

"Well that didn't take very long," Alex said without turning around, knowing it was her mother behind her. "I shouldn't really be surprised. You are a profiler after all."

"Being a profiler had nothing to do with it," Emily replied, now standing directly behind the teen. "I'm you're mother. I knew where you would go. I knew who you needed to talk to."

For a moment Alex simply nodded, her head moving up and down until a loud sob erupted from her throat, suddenly unable to hold back all the emotions she had been working so hard to hide; Emily immediately kicking into action as she dropped to the ground and wrapped her daughter in her arms. "Shhh it's okay," Emily soothed, kissing the teen's head as she pulled her close. "It's okay baby. It's okay."

"I messed everything up," Alex sobbed, turning her head to bury into her mother's shirt as Emily easily lifted the teen onto her lap. "I messed it all up."

"You made some mistakes," Emily said, running her hands through brown locks. "But all can be forgiven. All of it can be fixed honey," she soothed. "It's going to be okay. It's okay."

Releasing another sob, Alex hugged her mother tight, unable to stop the tears that were now cascading down her face; finally letting go of all of the emotions she had been holding back for the last few weeks. Knowing her daughter simply needed to cry, Emily held onto the teen, stroking her hair and offering words of comfort as she continued to sob, not caring how long it took.

"Talk to me," Emily whispered when the sobs finally subsided, Alex keeping her head resting against her mother's shoulder. "Please Alex. Talk to me."

"I…I was mad," Alex replied quietly, her voice shaky.

"At me?" Emily asked, rubbing her hand up and down the young girl's back.

"I had this dream," Alex said, not directly answering the question. "Well I had a lot of dreams…nightmares….Parrilla kidnapping you…me…JJ….Spencer….sometimes two of us at once," she explained. "But in one of the dreams Parrilla just had me. I kept saying that you were going to find me….that the team would come, but he said…he said that you weren't coming. He said that if you cared…that if you wanted to protect me than you wouldn't have left me in the first place," she said, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

"Oh honey…"

"I know it was just a dream but I just…I couldn't stop thinking about it," the teen continued sadly. "The more I thought about it, the worse the dreams got. And the less I slept the more angry I got so I just…I started doing stupid things because I just wanted to make you angry or…or see if you cared or something," she admitted, shrugging as tears continued to fall; attempting to hide her face against Emily's sweater.

"Hey look at me," Emily said taking the teen's chin in her hands and tipping her head so she was looking at her. "I care. I care more about you than anyone else," she said. "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you sweetie and I meant it. I wouldn't have left with the team without knowing you were safe honey," she continued. "Have you noticed the new guards at the gate to our neighbourhood?" She asked, Alex nodding her answer. "They both used to be Agents," she revealed. "Hotch asked them to do us a favour. They're there to make sure that Parrilla doesn't get anywhere near you. They circle the neighbourhood at regular intervals, watching our house and the Hastings' to make sure that nothing suspicious is going on. To be honest I'm not sure how you got past them this morning."

Shrugging Alex dropped her head in shame. "I didn't know any of this."

"I know," Emily nodded. "And that's my fault. I should have talked to you about all of this. I should have made sure that you were okay with everything," she said. "But honey I need you to trust me. I need you to believe that I will always do everything in my power to protect you. And I need you to talk to me. You should have told me you were scared. You should have told me you were angry," she continued. "If you wanted my attention all you had to do was ask. You didn't have to do all this."

"I know," Alex sniffed. "I did it all wrong."

"You're a teenager, you're allowed to make mistakes," Emily assured her, kissing her head. "But honey I don't want you to spend you're time afraid. We have no proof that Parrilla will even come after you…or me for that matter. There's a good chance that he'll start over somewhere far away from here. You don't have to be afraid," she said. "Everything's going to be okay. And if something happens I will _always_ find you. You understand?"

"I understand," Alex nodded, once again letting her head fall against her mother's shoulder, breathing in the scent that she missed the last few weeks while she had been pushing her away. "I really hurt JJ yesterday."

"You did," Emily replied, not wanting to sugarcoat it since she knew the blonde was heartbroken by the teen's words.

"I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't honey," Emily assured her, still feeling tears soaking her sweater. "JJ loves you so much though. It means so much to her when you refer to her as one of your mothers because I know she thinks of you as a daughter. She has done nothing but love you since the day she met you, so she's hurt. But you can fix that. You just need to talk to her."

Falling silent for a moment Alex nodded against the older brunette's shoulder, once again trying to get a hold on her emotions, feeling guilty about what she had said to JJ. "You know when I was on the plane I kept thinking that I was going home," she eventually whispered. "It wasn't till I got here that I realized that I wasn't home….I left home," she said. "Home is with you and JJ," she continued, feeling Emily pulling her tighter. "Mom?"

"Mmhmm?" Emily questioned, her own eyes now welling with tears.

"I want to go home."

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Emily and Alex had sat together on the ground in front of her parents' graves for a while before the elder brunette got up to call JJ; leaving Alex to talk to her parents. Once she had assured JJ that everything was okay, Emily called a cab to take her and Alex back to the airport, both brunettes ready to return home even though they had only been there a couple hours.

The flight home was spent talking, Emily asking about what had happened with Logan and Alex admitting that she had been too embarrassed about the whole thing to tell her or JJ. Now that she was sharing, Alex told Emily about the tension between her and Spencer, admitting that she was worried that she had pushed her friend too far away.

While the flight to Chicago had seemed to take a lifetime to Emily, the brunette was secretly wishing the flight home could go by just a little slower, glad to finally have her daughter talking to her again. But as things usually go it seemed like they had just taken off and they were landing again, finding Emily's car in the parking lot and heading home, pulling up to the driveway to find two cars parked there.

"Is that Garcia's car?" Alex asked, turning to Emily who nodded. "Shouldn't they still be at work?" She asked looking at the time.

"Yes they should," Emily replied, knowing she wasn't hiding her worry very well, Alex looking over anxiously as she parked the car, the teen grabbing her bag before they both got out of the car and made their way quickly towards the house. "Jen?" Emily called when they were standing in the foyer, Garcia coming around the corner. "Pen? What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Oh uh well…" Garcia hesitated, glancing towards Alex nervously.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked right away, immediately worried. "Penelope?"

"Everything's fine, but Jayje called after you left," Garcia explained. "She wasn't feeling very well so Hotch told me to check on her," she continued. "Her blood pressure was a little high, so she was feeling a bit dizzy, but she's doing a lot better. She's just upstairs lying down now. I just didn't want to leave her alone though."

"This is all my fault," Alex said, her face falling and her eyes welling with tears.

"Oh no, no honey, it's not," Emily was quick to assure her. "Jen's going to be fine. These things happen during pregnancy. It'll be fine."

"Can I go see her?" The teen asked tearfully.

"Of course sweetie," Emily replied, stroking a hand over her head. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No," Alex said shaking her head. "I'd like to talk to her alone if that's okay."

"Okay," Emily smiled. "I'll be up a little later then," she said, kissing the teen's head. "You go ahead."

Nodding Alex headed for the stairs, hearing Penelope asking her mother if she was okay on her way up, but not waiting to listen to the answer as she made it to the top, walking down the hallway towards the master bedroom. Approaching the door, the teen felt nervous, pushing it open with a shaky hand, tears already falling down her cheeks as she looked in to find the blonde curled up in bed, one hand resting on her stomach.

Sensing a presence in the room JJ opened her eyes, finding Alex practically frozen in the doorway, tears slowly falling from her eyes.

"Come here," JJ said, holding open the blankets, relieved to see the teen even though she still felt rather hurt about the previous day.

Though her legs felt heavy, Alex made her way slowly towards the bed, bursting into tears as soon as she lay down next to the blonde. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

"I know honey," JJ replied, kissing the brunette's forehead, feeling tears stinging her own eyes.

"I d-didn't mean it."

"I know that too," JJ nodded quietly, rubbing a hand up and down the teen's arm comfortingly, giving her some time to calm down. "Shh sweetie it's okay," she said. "I know you were just upset. I know you were hurting."

"I shouldn't have hurt you too though," Alex eventually replied, calming down slightly, only a few more tears escaping her eyes.

"No," JJ agreed, wiping the teen's cheek with the pad of her thumb. "But I understand. And I forgive you."

Though JJ's stomach prevented Alex from getting much closer, the teen wrapped her arm around the blonde anyways, both falling silent for a few minutes as they both basked in the moment.

"Do remember the first weekend I was here?" Alex eventually asked, tilting her head up to look at the blonde who simply nodded. "The team came over that night and I was really nervous about meeting everyone. You pulled me over and sat me down next to you and you didn't leave my side the whole night," she continued. "Do you remember what I told you that night?"

"You told me that I reminded you of your mother. Of Meredith," JJ replied, remembering the night easily.

"That was the first time I told you, but I thought it the day I met you," Alex continued, needing to tell the blonde exactly how she felt about her. "I was so scared that day, and I felt so alone but then you came," she explained. "You were the first person I talked to about everything that I really felt cared and you looked at me just like my mom used to look at me. And you didn't even know who I was then," she continued. "I was so happy when you and Mom got together because I love you and I want you in my life. Most of the time having you around…someone who reminds me so much of my mom makes me feel so much better. It's comforting," she said, her eyes watering. "But sometimes it can be really hard too. Sometimes it's just so hard because…I miss my parents so much."

"I know honey," JJ nodded, kissing her forehead, completely understanding what the teen was saying.

"Yesterday when I saw how disappointed you were it was just…I felt terrible," Alex continued sadly. "I felt like I had disappointed my mom…but not because you remind me of her," she said, meaning Meredith. "But because that _is_ how I think of you. I told you before that I think of you as my mom too, and I meant it. I shouldn't have said that you weren't yesterday. You are my family JJ. You are my mom. And I love you."

"I love you too," JJ smiled, kissing the teen's head again, feeling her blood pressure lowering significantly now that the young brunette was back with her.

"And I love both of you," Emily called, coming into the room with a smile, leaning over Alex to give JJ a kiss. "You feeling okay?" She asked as she lay down on the other side of the teen.

"Much better now," JJ replied as she kept her arm wrapped around Alex, smiling as Emily's arm joined hers. "Did Garcia leave?"

"Yeah I sent her home with the promise that I would get you to the doctor as soon as possible," Emily explained. "You have an appointment tomorrow morning after we bring Alex to school."

Knowing not to argue JJ simply nodded, understanding that Emily needed to hear for herself that the baby was fine before she would be able to relax. "Sounds good," the blonde smiled. "And I think the rest of today should be spent just like this," she said referring to the three of them lying there together. "Though there are a few more things I'd like to hear about," she said pointedly, Alex looking up with a smile as she nodded her agreement.

"I'll tell you everything," Alex said. " There's something else I need to do first though," she continued. "I know that I'm grounded and all, but there's one more person I really need to apologize to."

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Alex felt nervous as she walked across the street, having been given 30 minutes from her mothers to go and talk to her friend; Alex knowing that she definitely owed Spencer an apology as she had treated her terribly the last few weeks. Knowing the taller brunette would be home alone, as she should have just gotten home from school, Alex knocked on the front door, only having to wait about a minute before Spencer opened up the door, clearly surprised to see Alex standing there.

"I ran away today," Alex said, skipping the greetings.

"You…What?" Spencer questioned in confusion.

"I stole my mom's credit card, called a cab and went to the airport," the teen explained. "I managed to get on a last minute flight to Chicago and just took off. I just had to get out of here," she continued. "I've been messing everything up and I just wanted to go home."

"How long did it take you to realize that you weren't going home?" Spencer asked, knowing her friend, and knowing how much she loved Emily and JJ despite everything that had been going on.

"Pretty much as soon as we landed," Alex replied not missing Spencer trying to hide her smile, clearly amused. "I realized that I didn't want to leave my moms even though we've been fighting. And I really didn't want to leave you either," she explained. "I've been such a jerk Spence. You've been trying to help me; to be here for me and all I've been doing is pushing you away and I am so sorry. You've been such a good friend and I've been terrible and you don't deserve that. Please tell me you'll forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you," Spencer sighed like it was the most obvious thing in the world, rolling her eyes. "I know you well enough to know that you can't be pushed to talk about things when you don't want to, but I've just been so worried about you. I didn't mean to be so pushy…you're just…you're my best friend and I don't want to see anything happen to you."

"I know," Alex replied. "And I should have been listening to you. I made quite the mess this weekend."

"I know, I talked to Olivia," Spencer laughed. "I take it that didn't go over well with Emily?"

"Not at all. I'm grounded for a month," Alex explained, taking a moment to glance at her watch. "I actually have to be back home soon, but I've talked to mom and JJ and things are better now. I'm going to be better now. Promise."

"I'm glad," Spencer smiled. "I've missed my best friend."

"I've missed you too," Alex replied, reaching out and pulling the taller brunette into a hug. "I love you Spence."

"I love you too Lex," Spencer laughed, glad to finally have her friend back. "You better get back before you get yourself into even more trouble though. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You will definitely see me tomorrow," Alex smiled, pulling her friend back in for one last hug before turning back towards her house, finally feeling like she was getting back to herself.


	11. Chapter 11

**Well here it is folks: another story coming to an end! Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. You all are truly amazing and definitely keep me going! I hope you enjoy the way I ended this, it actually turned into something I wasn't expecting, but I'm happy with it!**

**So enjoy this, and stay tuned for story #10, which I'm really excited to start!**

**Thanks again. -J**

**Chapter 11**

"I can't believe this," JJ said irritably as Emily held the front door open for her, allowing the blonde to waddle her way into the foyer. "This is just ridiculous."

"Jen you heard the doctor, you need to keep your blood pressure down," Emily said, closing the door behind her as she sent Hotch a text explaining what was going on. "Please don't get worked up about this."

"She put me on bed rest," JJ exclaimed, turning towards the brunette in disbelief. "How am I supposed to not get worked up about this?"

"Well technically she didn't put you on bed rest," Emily replied, receiving a glare from the blonde. "You're just not allowed to go to work."

"Same thing," JJ huffed, practically stomping into the family room and flopping down onto the couch as much as an almost 8 month pregnant woman could flop. "I thought I had another month of work at least. I mean I know I was going to have to stop travelling soon, but I thought I could at least work from the office and now I can't even do that," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What am I supposed to do here all day without you? How am I supposed to keep my blood pressure down if I don't know what you're doing…if you're okay?"

"Jen," Emily sighed, sitting on the edge of the couch and rubbing a hand over the blonde's belly. "I'm going to be fine. The team will be with me. You know that," she said. "You don't need to worry about me. You just need to worry about you and keeping that little guy in there as long as you can. Which means you need to stay home and relax and take care of yourself."

"I take care of myself at work," JJ pointed out, her eyes wide and pleading, making her look like a puppy dog; begging Emily to allow her to return to work.

"I know you do," Emily said, doing her best to bite back a grin, knowing the blonde wouldn't appreciate being laughed at today. "But our jobs don't exactly make it easy to keep calm. It's a stressful job. It gets all of our blood pressures up and Dr. Morrison said we just can't risk that right now."

"Fine," JJ replied, stretching out the word in a whining tone.

"I know you hate this but I actually think this is great timing," Emily said, ignoring the fact that her girlfriend was again glaring at her. "I mean with everything that's been going on with Alex, I think it would be good for her to have one of us home all the time. Might help with the nightmares. Help her open up."

"Well…yeah, that's true," JJ agreed, her frown leaving her face, seeing the benefit of being home for Alex. "When you put it that way I guess it won't be so bad," she said. "Are you going into work today?"

"I told Hotch that I would," Emily nodded. "I sent him a text letting him know what the doctor said though so he told me to take my time," she explained. "I have quite a few cases open on my desk though. I really should get going soon. Will you be okay here on your own?"

"I'll manage," JJ replied, looking tired already; Emily knowing the blonde would fall asleep as soon as she left. "Get home early?" She yawned.

"As early as I can," Emily smiled, leaning forward and giving the blonde a quick kiss. "Take care of our little man for me. I love you."

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Alex had returned to school with quite the story to tell her friends the next day, telling them all about her impromptu trip the previous day, and apologizing for her strange behaviour the past few weeks. Though she knew she still had a long way to go, the teen felt like she could get back to herself with a little help from Dr. Sullivan, and was looking forward to her next appointment at the end of the week.

Knowing she needed to get her schoolwork back on track, the young brunette made a conscious effort to pay attention during all her classes, and even asked a couple of her teachers for some extra credit work to make up for the things she had messed up. Alex also vowed to get her head back into the musical, appreciating the fact that she had a part in the play even if it wasn't the lead. With a new attitude and a determination to get better the teen was fully immersed in her last class of the day when her teacher interrupted her seatwork.

"Miss Campbell you have a phone call at the office," the teacher called. "We only have a few minutes left so you might as well bring your things."

"Thank you," Alex replied, collecting her things before heading towards the main office, not allowing herself to get scared since she knew someone would come for her if something was wrong.

"It's your mother," Mrs. Mackenzie said when Alex approached the desk, holding the phone towards the teen.

"Thanks," Alex said taking the phone. "Mom?" She greeted, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hey kid, sorry to bug you at school," Emily's voice replied. "I wanted to send you a message before you got home but then I realized that I had your cell phone," she explained.

"The joys of being grounded," Alex joked. "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to give you a heads up that Jen will be home when you get back today," Emily replied. "The doctor wasn't thrilled about her blood pressure, so she's been forced to start her maternity leave early," she explained. "I just didn't want her to scare you or anything when you got home."

"Right thanks," Alex said, nodding in understanding even though her mother couldn't see her. "How's JJ doing with that new development? I imagine she can't be very happy. I mean she was pretty determined to work until she popped," she said, having discussed this with the blonde before.

"Well she wasn't exactly thrilled but I think she was warming up to the idea," Emily explained. "Maybe you could help cheer her up?"

"You got it," Alex replied straight away. "I'll put on our favourite crappy reality shows you hate to watch and bust out the ice cream," she said, allowed only an hour of TV a day, but willing to use it to cheer JJ up. "I've got this."

"Perfect," Emily laughed, happy to hear her daughter sounding so much like herself. "Also Garcia was thinking it's about time we throw that baby shower we've been putting off," she continued. "I know it'll be a bit of a time crunch but we figured we'd call Sandy and Sara and see if they could get here this weekend. Could you ask the girls if they could come? We'll give you a day off your grounding."

"I'll ask them," Alex agreed. "And tell Garcia I'll help with whatever she wants, but she's going to have to communicate with me through you since I don't have a phone…or computer…or anything."

"I'll let her know," Emily replied with a smile in her voice.

"Okay well I better go or I'll miss my bus," Alex then said, looking at the time. "Will you be home tonight?"

"Hopefully early," Emily said. "I will see you in a couple hours. Love you kid."

"Love you too mom," Alex replied. "See you soon."

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Knowing JJ would be there; Alex rushed home when she got off the bus that day, speed walking down the street towards the house. Waving to Spencer in the driveway the teen quickly pulled out her house keys and let herself in.

"JJ?" She called, though not too loudly in case the blonde was napping.

"In here," JJ's voice called out from the family room. "I take it you talked to your mom," she said when the teen came around the corner; Alex holding back a laugh at the fact that the blonde had a bag of Oreos by her side.

"She called the school," Alex replied. "She didn't want me to get freaked out if I didn't know you were home. How you feeling?" She asked, lifting JJ's feet so she could sit at the end of the couch.

"Pretty much useless," JJ sighed, pulling out an Oreo and stuffing it in her mouth. "I mean I knew I'd have to go off work eventually but I wasn't ready," she practically pouted. "I thought I had more time. I thought I'd get to work from Quantico with Garcia. I hate not working. I'm no good at staying home. I still had cases open on my desk."

"Well I'm sure someone will take care of those," Alex assured her, trying not to laugh. "I know it's earlier than you wanted but it won't be so bad," she continued. "You'll have more time to get ready now and we'll get to hang out more. That will be nice!"

"That will be very nice," JJ smiled. "Actually it's the only thing that will get me through the next month. Do you think you could miss a month of school?" She joked.

"Somehow I don't think mom will go for that," Alex laughed.

"Aw come on," JJ said, laughing now as well. "What am I supposed to do all day without you? Oh I know you can just take me to school with you."

"Oh that's even better," Alex replied shaking her head. "I'm sure my teachers wouldn't mind at all. Probably won't even notice the 8-months pregnant blonde following me around all day."

"Definitely not."

"You're crazy," Alex laughed. "But I would totally take you to school with me if that's what you wanted," she smiled. "But for now I say we get some ice cream to go with those Oreos and put my hour of television time to good use. What do you say?"

"That my darling sounds like a perfect plan."

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Though it didn't give them very much time to plan Emily, Alex and Garcia decided to throw JJ's baby shower that Saturday afternoon so Sandy, Sara and Lily could stay the night. Garcia had put herself in charge of decorations while Alex and Emily were required to get all the food and refreshments; not needing a ton since there were only 8 other guests between JJ's family, Alex's friends, Haley and Emily's mother.

Since the shower was meant to be a surprised the ladies had arranged for everyone to arrive during JJ's afternoon nap; something, which she needed to make it through the day. So Saturday afternoon as soon as the blonde excused herself to go upstairs Emily text Garcia who was circling the neighbourhood, while Alex called her friends from across the street so they all could help set up.

"Sandy said they should be here in about 15 minutes and Haley's on her way," Emily announced as she helped Alex hang an "It's a Boy" banner. "My mother said she might be a little late, but I'm sure she'll get here as soon as she can."

"Perfect," Alex smiled. "And what's the plan if JJ wakes up earlier than usual?" She asked.

"She always sleeps at least an hour so let's just hope she sticks to that," Emily replied "Everyone knows not to ring the bell and we're all being a quiet so it should be okay," she said. "But if she wakes up, she wakes up. Not a whole lot we can do now."

"True," Alex said, hopping off her stool and standing back to admire the banner. "Looks good," she nodded. "I'm going to go help the girls in the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything else," she said before heading towards the kitchen where she found Zoey and Spencer putting the food out on trays and making sandwiches. "What did you guys do with Liv?" She asked, not seeing the blonde.

"Olivia does not belong in the kitchen," Spencer replied.

"We sent her to help Penelope with the gift table," Zoey explained. "She's much better suited for that. "She is the only person I know who can mess up tuna sandwiches."

"Good call then," Alex laughed, moving to stand next to Spencer, immediately beginning to help.

The three girls worked, talking quietly amongst themselves, not even realizing that anyone else had arrived until Alex was hit by a small blonde running into her and immediately wrapping her little arms around the teen's waist.

"Alex!" Lily exclaimed at a whisper, having been warned that she had to be quiet so she didn't wake her Aunt up. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too Lily Bug," Alex smiled, picking up the little blonde who wrapped her arms around her neck. "I'm so glad you're here," she said, adjusting so Lily sat on her hips. "You remember my friends?"

"Spencer and Zoey," Lily nodded, giving a shy wave. "Where's Olivia?"

"She's around here somewhere," Alex replied. "Where's Grandma and your mom?"

"Right here," Sara called, coming into the kitchen with Sandy close behind. "The little munchkin got away from us. She was so excited to see you," she explained, pulling Alex into a hug and kissing her head. "Hi sweetie."

"Hi Aunt Sara," Alex greeted with a smile, returning the hug as much as she could while holding Lily. "Hi Grandma."

"You young lady have a lot of explaining to do," Sandy said, hugging the teen despite her firm tone. "I mean really? Drinking? At your age?"

"I know, I'm sorry," Alex replied guiltily. "It'll never happen again I promise. I learned my lesson trust me."

"You better have," Sandy said, smiling as she kissed the teen's head. "I missed you kiddo. And your grandpa told me to tell you that he misses you as well."

"Oh your Uncle Adam said the same," Sara added.

"Aw they should have just come along," Alex replied. "I would have loved to see them. I'm sure JJ would have too."

"Oh please you couldn't pay those two to come to a baby shower," Sara laughed. "I mean they miss you, but they won't sit through that," she said.

Laughing Alex had suggested they all make their way into the family room where Haley had just joined Emily, Garcia and Olivia.

"Well my mom called she won't be able to make it for another hour or so," Emily explained. "Lex did you want to check and see if JJ's up?"

"Sure," Alex replied. "I'll be right back," she said, handing Lily over to Emily before heading for the stairs.

Excited, Alex made her way towards the master bedroom as fast as she could, hoping that the blonde would be awake already since she was anxious to get her downstairs. Poking her head into the room, Alex smiled as she found JJ sitting on the edge of her bed stretching.

"You're awake," Alex called as she let herself into the room.

"Just woke up actually," JJ smiled. "What are you up to?" She asked, unsure what the teen was doing since she had a big smile on her face.

"Nothing, there's just something downstairs that I really wanted to show you," Alex replied, moving towards the blonde and holding out her hand. "Come with me?"

"Okay," JJ nodded, allowing the teen to pull her up and lead her out of the room and towards the stairs. "What exactly do you want to show me?"

"You'll see," Alex smiled, as they descended the staircase, knowing the family room would come into view soon. "It's just over here," she said pointing towards where everyone was waiting; realization dawning on JJ's face just as everyone shouted surprise.

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"I cannot believe you pulled all this off," JJ said sometime later that day, after Elizabeth had arrived and presents had been opened; a piece of cake in front of her. "You guys are very sneaky."

"Well it was mostly Garcia," Emily laughed. "She was basically the mastermind, Alex and I just did what she told us," she explained. "But you must have known we'd throw you a baby shower at some point."

"To be honest, with everything that's been going on, I completely forgot about a baby shower," JJ admitted, making the brunette laugh. "Thought never even crossed my mind, but this is perfect," she said looking around, smiling at the sight of Garcia, Lily and all the teenagers decorating onesies across the room. "I mean getting my mom and Sara down here and everything. I couldn't ask for a better day."

"Well I'm glad," Emily smiled, leaning forward to give the blonde a quick kiss just as Sandy and Elizabeth came over, having left Haley and Sara talking in the corner.

"So Jenny you think you're ready for this little guy to get here now?" Sandy asked as she and Elizabeth both sat down. "I mean I definitely think you got enough stuff today."

"Especially clothes," Elizabeth added.

"Yeah Garcia seems to have gone a little nuts," JJ laughed, referring to the multiple bags full of outfits that Garcia had given her. "I definitely think I have everything I need now though. Just have a few last minute touches to the nursery to do and we should be good to go."

"And Jen is going to leave those touches for me," Emily said with a grin. "She's not going to do them while I'm away at work all day. Right honey?"

"I can handle a little decorating and organizing Emily," JJ said pointedly. "I can't just sit around all day doing nothing," she said. "I promise I won't go crazy and try to move furniture or anything."

"Sure you won't," Emily laughed, grabbing her now empty cake plate and standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me I had something I wanted to ask Sara," she said, heading towards where JJ's sister-in-law was still talking to Haley.

Emily had just sat down next to Haley when Alex's voice filled the room. "Hey Mum what do you think of this?" She called, Emily turning around, expecting Alex to be showing her something; surprised when she found the teen holding up a onesie towards a shocked looking JJ instead.

Realizing what she had called the blonde, Alex seemed to have frozen for a moment; her look of surprise mirroring the one of JJ's face, until the teen finally broke out into a smile, obviously pleased with this new development. "Do you like it Mum?" She repeated with a grin, feeling the rest of the room watching the moment carefully, but choosing to ignore them; focused only on JJ.

"I love it," JJ said, snapping out of her surprised state as she tried to hide the tears in her eyes. "It's perfect."

Satisfied with the blonde's response, Alex turned back towards her friends; JJ turning her head towards Emily, who was also tearing up.

"I love you," Emily mouthed, as she wiped away a tear before it could fall.

"Love you too," JJ mouthed back before turning back towards her mother and Elizabeth, realizing she really couldn't have asked for a better day.

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**Well my friends that's all! **

**I wasn't planning on having Alex call JJ mom yet, but then it just sort of came to me and I thought that it was a simple and perfect moment, so I really hope you all liked it!**

**I am going to start story #10 tomorrow night. I definitely have a lot of big (happy) moments planned I just have to figure out the flow of it all!**

**Thank you so much for reading this story!**


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